Restroom convenience center

ABSTRACT

A restroom monitoring system for monitoring attributes of fixtures within a restroom using sensors. Additional attributes are determined from the monitored attributes. Consumable usage levels are estimated based on predetermined consumption levels associated with usage states of the fixtures. The restroom monitoring system provides an indication of the need for replenishment of consumables based on the monitored attributes of the fixtures. In addition, restroom monitoring system may provide additional information regarding the restroom attributes to a service provider, a manager or a user.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is related to and claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalPatent Application 60/985,606 filed Nov. 5, 2007 which is herebyincorporated by reference.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Conventional commercial restrooms are characterized by multiple plumbingfixtures and their respective fittings, such as water closets withflushometers, urinals with and without flushometers, lavatory sinks withfaucets, and the accompanying devices that dispense consumables such assoap, paper towels, water closet tissues, water closet disposable seatcovers, urinal deodorant supplies, and wall hung air fresheners. Withsuch a wide diversity of amenities in any given commercial restroom,periodic maintenance of the consumables alone (consumables are thoseprovided materials that are used by the restroom patrons as a functionof traffic) creates a substantial task list, not only in the supply ofthem into the dispensing devices within the restroom, but also into theparticular facility where they are being consumed.

Managers of commercial restrooms view the restroom as yet anotherexpense or at the other extreme an opportunity to make a statement totheir customers. Indeed many studies have shown a large impact can beexperienced by customers whether positive or negative by the customer'ssingular visit to the restroom area. In some of these installations, themulti fixture restrooms can be many and can be located in remote partsof a large expansive campus. Typically the cleaning, consumablerefilling, and plumbing maintenance has fallen under the responsibilityof the property owner or property manager. The routine cleaning of therestroom and refilling of the soap, paper towels, and paper tissuedispensers has typically fallen upon the in house group undermaintenance called house keepers. Their primary responsibility is tomaintain the commercial restrooms for a pleasant and efficient use bycustomers visiting the property. This routine cleaning is accomplishedby facilities through many schemes and systems that range from veryinformal and non specific, to regimented systems of routes and times ofthe routing. In the past, most owners of commercial restrooms havecleaned and maintained the restroom this way in order to maintain anarea of the property (commercial restroom) but is a procedure which cando harm with an unpleasant patron experience.

Of all the venues for commercial restrooms, one common patron problem isuniversal. More times than not, a particular patron of the commercialproperty restroom is not familiar with the property layout and thelocation of all of the possible restrooms. Manual signage is onlyindicative of location; and in the instance of many people using themost convenient restroom, forewarning of a queue (people waiting in lineinside the restroom) and choices of alternate restrooms with no queuesis not possible. Moreover, conventional restroom facilities, especiallyin high traffic areas, such as airports, stadiums, educationalinstitutions, and restaurants have traditionally experienced long queuesand insufficient or wasted asset capacity during periods of peakrestroom usage. As such, potential restroom users are often subjected tofrustration and inconvenience as a result of these issues. A particularchallenge is not only the daily servicing many of these restrooms, butit is also being able to leverage that service with fewer employees in ajob position, which is also prone to high turnover. For example, if aparticular restroom within a property has not been used all day, thereis no need to waste valuable time servicing that restroom. This isequally valid if certain fixtures are known historically to have beenused more than others; and the periodic routine maintenance of thatfixture could potentially be deferred to a less frequent servicingroutine, if there were some efficient way to do so.

The tasks of cleaning and replenishing consumables in a commercialrestroom have ultimately fallen upon the owner of the general property.Whether that property is a public pay for entertainment (movie theatresand stadiums), hospitality (hotels and resorts), convention halls, orhigh traffic public locations (railroad stations, airports, etc.)varying degrees of methods have been used to clean and replenish thecommercial restrooms of those properties. Much of the methods have beenhome grown and specific to the properties, from simple route plans thatteams of employees are instructed to follow (to evenly cover theexpansive property layouts), to specific routines of restrooms basedupon known general traffic conditions. For example, in airports, arestroom located next to a gate which routinely deplanes large bodyaircraft may be overly utilized whenever the large population of flyersdeplanes. Depending upon the level of quality desired for each property,the actual maintenance routine could be minimal, leaving major cleaningto less traffic periods. The actual routing of house keepers andverifying a cleaning/replenishment routine is left to knowledge of theproperty traffic and simple hand written logs which sometimes can befound hanging in an inconspicuous spot within the restroom. Absent amiscalculation on traffic pattern or an incomplete service routine by anew maintenance employee, the need for servicing may be determined onlyby a physical observation of the restroom or worse yet, a customercomplaint about the state of a substandard commercial restroom.

National restaurant chains and QSRs (Quick Serve Restaurants) know theimpact of substandard restroom cleanliness with some chains actuallyplacing a dollar value on the cost. Such a costly element of thebusiness is left to the good practices of a busy manager who with thebest of intentions during the manager's work day, does not always havethe time to devote to restroom quality. The forgotten small restroomsduring the business day can better be monitored centrally from the homeoffices as well as allowing for the economies of large scale use onconsumables purchases for bargaining with low cost providers of suchconsumables. It is yet another factor of today's business models thatcan have the restroom monitoring being performed remotely as well as theconsumables procurement being remote from the actual consumption.

A large segment of commercial restroom owners contract out thesanitation tasks of the commercial restroom to outside service providersand the service that used to be in house is now more economicallysourced out. This has allowed for reductions in house personnel tomaintain the restroom, keeping a fraction of the previous work force foremergency tasks. These service providers can be a local agent or abranch of a larger state or country wide company. With the bulk of thework tasks being contracted outside a business, the actual suppliespurchasing for a specific restroom can be located miles or even statesaway and are now more disparate than when accomplished by in housepersonnel. These changes have ushered in a whole new set of challengeswhen it comes to maximizing the commercial restroom as an asset.

The traditional commercial restroom has provided water control anddispensing consumables through either manual operation, or automaticoperation using infrared sensors or other sensors that detect thepresence of users, of faucets on sinks, water closets, urinals and otherconsumables dispensers. At the present time many of these types ofcommercial restrooms have adopted “hands free” operation where the usertouching the various plumbing fittings is minimized for the user'sconvenience or sanitary reasons. Most of these automatic sensors followa logical routine for detecting valid targets (users within a predefinedsensing zone) and ignoring invalid targets such as patrons walking pastplumbing sensor detections zones or hands moving quickly below faucetand soap dispenser fittings. Typically, each valve operates alone withno communication or direct interaction with other valves and each sensoroperates an associated fixture with no communication or correlation withother sensors. With no inter communication or central communication,potentially useful information that can be extracted from, for example,the activation and deactivation of individual sensors is not utilizedand/or discarded. Simple counting of the activations may yield somebasic inferential information on consumables but precise prediction ofthe entire property's restrooms can be greatly underutilized. Some priorart patents, owned by the assignee, U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,304,569 and7,177,725 network these sensors for gross control of the restroom via acentral controller offering two way communication between the plumbingfittings and a central area. The actual electronic detection elements ofthe sensor software are not broken up and only gross information of onand off and length between the on and off can be extrapolated. In thecase of sensors to detect all levels of consumable paper and level ofconsumable liquids more sensors complicate the system network and areprone to diagnostic and added repair when they fail, increasing lifecycle costs and system complexity.

The lack of restroom automation can also lead to wasted water due tovalves that leak slowly or run-on causing flooding. Slow leaks duringno-demand times can also prompt intervention by maintenance staff to fixa slow leak before it becomes so obvious it is running on. The lack ofrestroom automation further can lead to suboptimal operating conditionssuch as water flow-failure, exhausted consumable supplied, inoperablewater fixtures, which can increase the cost of ownership, and/or generalowner and user dissatisfaction due to any of the above. Accordingly,there is a substantial need for improved monitoring and maintenance ofrestrooms, and also there is, a need to maximize the restroom assetwhile minimizing the cost to maintain the asset by support services.

Additionally, there has been a movement to implement ecologicallyfriendly and ecologically efficient systems and services in facilities,in particular, with respect to, e.g., water, paper, and soap consumptionin restrooms. From a servicing standpoint, facilities managers as wellas janitorial staff have also experienced frustration and an inabilityto effectuate efficient operating procedures allowing such staff tomaintain consumables supplies and also to know when, for example, anappropriate time period (e.g., a lull in restroom activity) would allowjanitorial staff to address issues in the restroom facilities. Hence,there is a need for implementing systems and methods that can addressthese problems from both the restroom user perspective and the servicingstaff perspective. With more large facilities contracting out thehousekeeping service, the need for making those servicing visits byoutside personnel requires more exacting information on what to expectat a given commercial restroom within a property. It would be highlyadvantageous for such systems and methods to be integrated withsolutions for addressing the need for improved monitoring and control ofrestrooms, as well as reducing the need for additional infrastructure,e.g., minimal use of sensors, thus simplifying and/or simply eliminatingthe increased cost and service requirements for additional sensors. Withthe increasing demand and economic pressure, monitoring the commercialrestroom at a quality level with minimal costs, has become extremelydifficult. There is a further need to maximize the restroom asset whileminimizing the support services cost to maintain the asset.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system comprises a plurality of sensors in a restroom facility whichoperate various automatic devices such as flushometers, faucets, andother commercial restroom devices. The sensors are in communication witha network and provide direct information regarding aspects of therestroom facility such as, but not limited to, timing information, watercloset and urinal water flow, temperature, air quality, and usertraffic. The system extrapolates the direct information to determineindirect information regarding the state of other various aspects of therestroom facility, including, but not limited to, the condition of thewater closets and urinals the supply level of consumables, the generalcleanliness of the restroom facility and availability generally ofvarious restrooms and also of fixtures in the restroom when trafficpatterns in the facility are high. The system provides an indicationregarding the need for attention to an aspect of the restroom facilitybased upon the direct (actual sensor activations) and indirectinformation (heuristic software models). For example, a control systemcan include at least one server configured to monitor data statesassociated with a first of features of the restroom; a controllercoupled to the at least one sensor and configured to receive first statedata associated with the first set of features and, the controllerfurther having a coupled memory storage with embedded alarm datacharacteristic of selected combinations of different ones of the firststates data and the controller operative to generate particular actioncommands upon receiving a selected one of the combinations, therebycausing at least one of servicing of the restroom, activation ofinformational direction to user of the restroom and providing usefulrestroom status information to the user. In addition, in another aspectof the invention, a method for forecasting restroom usage queue timesfor selected fixtures of the restroom includes operably associating atleast one fixture sensor with at least one fixture in the restroom, suchthat at least one attribution of the fixture is monitored by the fixturesensor; operably associating each of the at least one fixture sensorswith a restroom controller; monitoring entrance and exit events for therestroom using a presence sensor, the presence sensor associated withthe restroom controller; generating a time/date stamp for data generatedby the at least one fixture sensor and the presence sensor; determininga user saturation of the restroom; calculating an estimated queue timeassociated with the user saturation of the restroom; and communicatingthe calculated queue time to potential users; thereby enabling efficientuse of the restroom.

In one embodiment, the present invention relates to a restroom controlsystem for controlling a restroom and its restroom facilities. Thesystem comprises one or more sensors configured to monitor statesassociated with a first set of features of the restroom. A controller isoperably coupled to the one or more sensors, and configured to receivefirst states data therefrom associated with the first set of features todetermine second state data associated with a second set of features andcommunicate the status condition associated with the first set offeatures, thereby causing useful actions to be scheduled for therestroom.

Another aspect of the invention related to a method for automaticallygenerating work orders for a restroom by: sensing the state of at leastone restroom fixture; communicating the at least one sensed state to acontroller; calculating the use of at least one type of consumablewithin the restroom facility based upon a predetermined average usagefor each of the at least one sensed states; aggregating the calculatedusage for each type of consumable within the restroom facility todetermine a total amount used for each type of consumable; determiningwhen the total amount used for each type of consumable surpasses apredetermined threshold; evaluating at least one of additional storeddata and sudden occurrence data for determining whether thepredetermined threshold should be adjusted based on the additionalstored data and the sudden occurrence data; and issuing a work order forreplenishment of each type of consumable for which the respectivethreshold has been surpassed.

In a further aspect, the present invention relates to a methodcomprising: receiving first data from a plurality of sensors, at leastone associated with a flushometer; inferring information based on thereceived first data, the inferred information being indicative of atleast one state of the restroom facility requiring at least onecorrective measure; and transmitting at least one notification includingat least one instruction for implementing the at least one correctivemeasure.

In yet another aspect, the present invention relates to a computerimplemented system for managing restroom facilities, comprising acentral processing unit (CPU) and a storage device coupled to the CPU.The storage device has information stored therein for configuring theCPU to: first data from a plurality of sensors associated with at leastone of an appliance aspect and a utilization aspect of a restroomfacility; second data determined by executing computer software based onthe received first data, the second data being indicative of at leastaction state of the restroom facility requiring at least one correctivemeasure for the restroom facilities; and an alarm system activated by anotification of achieving the at least one action states including atleast one instruction for implementing the at least one correctivemeasure for servicing the restroom facilities.

In yet another aspect, the present invention related to a method forforecasting restroom usage queue times for selected fixtures of therestroom. The method comprises: operably associating at least onefixture sensor with at least one fixture in the restroom, such that atleast one attribution of the fixture is monitored by the fixture sensor;operably associating each of the at least one fixture sensors with arestroom controller; monitoring entrance and exit events for therestroom using a presence sensor, the presences sensor associated withthe restroom controller; generating a time/date stamp for data generatedby the at least one fixture sensor and the presence sensor; determininga user saturation of the restroom; calculating an estimated queue timeassociated with the user saturation of the restroom; and communicatingthe calculated queue time to potential users thereby enabling efficientuse of the restroom.

In yet another embodiment, the present invention relates to a system fora restroom. The system includes at least one server configured tomonitor data states associated with a first of features of the restroom.A controller is coupled to the at least one sensor and configured toreceive first state data associated with the first set of features. Thecontroller has a coupled memory storage with embedded alarm datacharacteristic of selected combinations of different ones of the firststates data. The controller is operative to generate particular actioncommands upon receiving a selected one of the combinations, therebycausing at least one of servicing of the restroom, activation ofinformational direction to user of the restroom and providing usefulrestroom status information to the user.

To the accomplishment of the foregoing and related ends, the inventioncomprises the features hereinafter fully described and particularlypointed out in the claims. The following description and the annexeddrawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects andimplementations of the invention. These are indicative, however, of buta few of the various ways in which the principles of the invention maybe employed. Other objects, advantages and novel features of theinvention will become apparent from the following detailed descriptionof the invention when considered in conjunction with the drawingsdescribed below.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a typical male rest roomaccording to one exemplary embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating a restroom controller that incorporatesthe functional elements necessary to communicate with external devicesand equipment either through wired or wireless means, to communicatewith attached devices and equipment, to perform local processingtransforming low level data into valuable user information, and tocommunicate the transformed low-level data using a variety oftransmission media and protocols;

FIG. 3 is an overview diagram illustrating the communication sphere ofrestroom elements in accordance with various embodiments; included arethe various sensors located on the faucets, sensors on the flushometerautomatic valves, patron counter, and indoor air quality sensorcommunicating to the local restroom controller; also included are theother human input devices into the system such as Janitor log in andlocal user interface, and indoor air quality communicating to the localrestroom controller;

FIG. 4 is a more detailed diagram illustrating elements of thecomponents of the restroom controller of FIG. 2, wherein the additionaldetail further illustrates the wide variety of functional requirementsplaced on the restroom convenience center system to provide a flexibleand configurable capability for acquiring, processing, and communicatingrestroom information;

FIG. 5 A illustrates the connectivity of a plurality of sensors andrestroom convenience center controller; FIG. 5B illustrates threeseparate restroom convenience center (RCC) controller in communicationwith a Network Operations Center (NOC); FIG. 5C illustrates anembodiment wherein each restroom convenience center controller for afacility is in communication with an intermediary controller for thatfacility which is in turn, along with controllers for other facilities,in communication with a NOC;

FIG. 6 illustrates one estimate of benefits, needs, or requirementsaccording to the market;

FIG. 7 illustrates one non-exhaustive list of stakeholders and theinformation provided by the restroom convenience center system to and/orused by those stakeholders;

FIG. 8A is a first block diagram illustrating actions and eventssupported by various embodiments and how individual stakeholders wouldtypically interact with the restroom convenience center system in areal-life scenario; the Network Operations Center (NOC), systemintegrators, and other Building Automation System (BAS) interfaces wouldtypically be serviced through a separate “Information Gateway” interfacewhich would provide higher level information objects than that requiredby the other stakeholders; FIG. 8B is a second block diagramillustrating additional actions and events supported by variousembodiments showing a particular emphasis on off-normal or the responseto various failure scenarios;

FIG. 9 is a more detailed overview diagram showing the restroom of FIG.3 specifically the elements feeding into and out of the restroomconvenience center controller;

FIG. 10 is a flowchart illustrating a method of monitoring andprocessing restroom sensor data according to an embodiment;

FIG. 11 is a table listing the correlations for sensor inputs andconsumables for one embodiment;

FIGS. 12A-C are a table listing sensor states and the correspondingresponse for one embodiment;

FIGS. 13A-G illustrate one embodiment of a web interface showing typicalgraphical user interfaces (GUI) of the various monitoring elements ofthe system;

FIGS. 14 A-H illustrate an alternative embodiment of a web interfaceshowing a typical GUI of various monitoring elements of the system for alarge public installation;

FIGS. 15A-H illustrates an alternative embodiment of a web interfaceshowing a typical GUI of various monitoring elements of the system for alarge public installation;

FIG. 16A illustrates a potential low volume traffic pattern occurring inone embodiment of the invention; FIG. 16B illustrates a potential highvolume traffic pattern occurring in one embodiment of the invention;FIG. 16C illustrates a potential no volume traffic pattern occurring inone embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 17 illustrates a flow chart depicting one embodiment ofconfiguration and setup for the restroom convenience center;

FIG. 18 illustrates a flow chart depicting one embodiment of the mainoperational logic for the restroom convenience center; and

FIG. 19 illustrates a flow chart depicting the logic for applying sensordata to a state table and predetermined thresholds.

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow chart depicting the general logic tocalculating traffic intensity index of a commercial restroom; themeasure of how quickly a rapid arrival of users is being serviced.

FIG. 21 illustrates actual time stamped data depicting patron counts andflush activations.

FIG. 22A illustrates a plotted graph of arrivals to a commercial femalerestroom versus time of day, FIG. 22B illustrates graph data of anotherset of arrivals versus time of day. FIGS. 22C and 22D plot totalarrivals per day over selected months to a commercial female restroom.

FIGS. 23A and 23B plots average counts of users entering a commercialmale restroom versus time of day for selected months. FIGS. 23C and 23Dplots total counts of users entering a commercial male restroom versustime of day for days of selected months.

FIG. 24 illustrates a general flow of acquiring sensor data of arm timeand activation time to determine service rate of a fixture with sensorto calculate anticipated fixture occupancy time.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention will be described with respect to the accompanyingdrawings in which like numbered elements represent like parts. Thepresent invention is directed to a system and method of monitoring thestatus condition of one or more functions associated with a restroom,extrapolating one or more additional status conditions from the statuscondition of the monitored functions, communicating one or more of thestatus conditions and effectuating services to a restroom.

With reference to the figures, FIG. 1 is a schematic diagramillustrating one exemplary embodiment of a restroom convenience centersystem 100 for use with a restroom. In FIG. 1, the restroom 101 such asa commercial bathroom has a plurality of differing kinds of fixture 130therein. For example, the fixture 130 may include one or more waterclosets 132, one or more automatic urinals 134, one or more faucets 136,trash receptacles 140, as well as dispensers 142 of consumable itemssuch as restroom tissue paper, soap, paper napkin, fragrance, bowlsanitizer, seat covers, and hand sanitizer. Other types of the fixtures130 (showers, hand dryers, and a product dispensing machine) may alsoreside within the restroom 101 and all such fixtures 130 arecontemplated as falling within the scope of the present invention. Asillustrated in FIG. 1, at least one information source 111 is providedin communication with a restroom convenience center controller 110. Theinformation source 111 may be, for example, a sensor 112 or a peripheraldevice 113.

Briefly turning to the sensors 112, which are disclosed in more detailbelow, the restroom 101 of FIG. 1 further includes a plurality of thesensors 112. The sensors 112 receive data regarding observed conditionsof the restroom 101. The sensors 112 may be associated with one of thefixtures 130 within the restroom 101, such as urinal automaticactivation sensors 152 associated with the urinals 134 respectively,water closet automatic activation sensors 151 associated with the waterclosets 132 in the restroom 101 and faucet automatic activation sensors153 associated with faucets 136. Other ones of the sensors 112 may belocated within the restroom 101 for gathering data but not associatedwith a particular one of the fixtures 130, such as air quality sensor156, patron counter 158, and a water flow sensor 160. Various sensors112 for use with the present invention are further described below.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 is operatively associated with each of the sensors 112 inthe restroom 101 as illustrated, to receive (either via “push” or“pull”) data from one or more of the various sensors 112 (or theirrespective controllers) within the restroom 101. Although FIG. 1illustrates hard-wired type electrical connection to the sensors 112, itshould be appreciated that such sensors 112 may be coupled to thecontroller 110 in a wireless or other type manner, and such alternativesare contemplated by the present invention and described in furtherdetail below. A preferred embodiment utilizes a ZigBee™ wireless networkprotocol which is able to create self-organizing mesh networks, thusnegating any need to perform complicated routing configurations betweenwireless nodes. It should be noted, however, that other networkprotocols and/or infrastructures can be utilized in accordance withvarious embodiments. It should also be noted that although it ispreferable to utilize wireless-based sensors and facilities(collectively referred to as wireless information sources 215, forexample shown in FIG. 2), if for example, building infrastructureinhibits the effectiveness of wireless communications, wired sensors,facilities, and networks (collectively referred to as wired informationsources 214, for example shown in FIG. 2) can be used in accordance withvarious embodiments such as fiber and power line communication.

Furthermore, although the restroom convenience center system 100 isgenerally illustrated and referred to as a physically separate componentfrom the fixture 130 and the sensors 112, it should be appreciated thatthe restroom convenience center system 100 may be included as a singledevice or component with the other sensors 112 or the peripheral devices113, such as in combination with the air quality sensor 156, built intothe flushometer automatic activation sensor 152, 151 of the urinal 134or the water closet 132, or integrated with a graphical user interface180 in the restroom 101. It will be appreciated that this can be idealfor “retrofit” applications or for small restrooms. It should beappreciated in instances where the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 is “accessible” to patrons, the tamper detection aspectsof the invention discussed further below achieve an increasedimportance.

FIG. 2 is a more detailed illustration of the components of the restroomconvenience center controller 110 in accordance with variousembodiments. The restroom convenience center controller 110 consists ofone or more hardware modules and associated software. In the embodimentof FIG. 2, one hardware module is referred to as the Data CollectionUnit (DCU) 210, which is responsible for collecting data from allattached devices, including, for example, hard-wired components orwireless components, such as via a Device Area Network (DAN) 230,providing system time and passing device data to the Network InterfaceUnit (NIU 220). The wired information sources 214 may include the airquality sensor 156 (FIG. 1), a janitor login interface 172 (such as forjanitorial access), a patron call device 173 as discussed further below,a keypad 174 and local user interface (LUI) 180 for stakeholderinteraction, a tamper switch or sensor 181, and a temperature sensor162. The wireless information sources 215 in communication with the DAN230 may include, for example, the automatic activation sensor 151, thewater flow sensor 160, the faucet automatic activation sensor 153, andthe patron counter 158.

The Data Collection Unit 210, for example, can be, but is not limitedto, an Atmel AVR microprocessor. The DCU 210 manages the DCU 210configuration, collects data from attached wired information sources 214and wireless information sources 215, provides system time via an RTC(real-time clock) 240, performs some minimal processing of data,communicates with the NIU 220, communicates with DAN 230, and provides amechanism to update its application flash image. Thus, as illustrated inFIG. 2, the DCU 210 receives data from various attached peripheraldevices 113 (air quality sensor 156, janitor login interface 172, patroncall device 173, keypad 174, tamper sensor or switch 181, temperaturesensor 162, LUI 180, RTC 240) described in further detail below, as wellas from those sensors and devices that are wirelessly linked to therestroom convenience center controller 110. The DCU 210 also providesinformation back “out” of the controller 110 such as to provide the LUI180 to a stakeholder in the restroom 101. In one embodiment, the DCU 210receives data from the respective sensors 112 at set time intervals andtimestamps the data. It should be appreciated that the DCU 210 may beconfigured as desired to receive or request information at differenttime intervals (or even substantially continuously) from differentsensors 112. A nonlimiting example would include, for example, as theair quality sensor 156 that may transmit data every second and the watercloset automatic activation sensor 151 that transmits data every minute.

With continued reference to FIG. 2, the NIU 220 is another hardwaremodule that can be utilized in accordance with various embodiments, andis responsible for providing access to the Internet 250 by a user 260such as by a web-based user interface for configuring and viewing systemcontents, storing historical data, data driven event notification, and ameans for notifying an external server of re-supply and predictivemaintenance data. The NIU 220, for example, is a Digi Connect ME module.The NIU 220 manages the NIU 220 configuration of: devices, for example,ZigBee nodes; IP parameters; configurable user preferences; provides afull Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) stack;provides user notifications; provides predictive maintenance andre-supply algorithm capability; provides a web-based user interface tothe system; provides an File Transfer Protocol (FTP) server for codeupdates; provides an FTP client for code updates; provides timestampcapability; provides historical data on demand; and uses the ThreadXoperating system.

Continuing the reference to FIG. 2, the DAN 230 is responsible formanaging the wireless device network and providing an interface betweenattached nodes and the DCU 210. The DAN 230 can, for example, be aMaxStream XBee ZigBee interface module. However, it should beappreciated that various types of networks known in the art may beutilized with the restroom convenience center system 100. The DAN 230acts as a network coordinator to manage the device network; communicateswith attached nodes; and communicates with the DCU 210.

As described above, the NIU 220 is responsible for providing a web-baseduser interface, which is discussed below. With reference now to FIG. 3,in one embodiment of the system the controller 110, such as via the NIU220 (see, FIG. 4 also), is communicatively connected to the Internet 250or some other network capable of providing data/communications andallows an end user, such as a system operator, building facilitiesmanager, etc. to interact with the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 over, e.g., the Internet via “embedded web pages.” Theembedded web pages can provide various remote interactions with anddisplays associated with data sensed and extrapolated at the restroomconvenience center controller 110. For example, the embedded web pagescan allow an end user to acknowledge alerts, reset counters and/orsensors, and perform a “manual” janitorial visit. Additionally, theembedded web pages can provide access to views of all relevant restroomconvenience center controller 110 and restroom convenience center system100 information.

With reference to FIG. 4, a detailed illustration is provided depictingone embodiment of the various restroom convenience center controller 110elements (DCU 210, NIU 220, and DAN 230) and their correspondingfunction. The DCU 210 can comprise, but is not limited to, the followingmodules: a time management module, a configuration persistence module,the firmware, interfaces, e.g., the XBee interface, and data acquisitionand control modules for attached devices as well as wireless devices.The NIU 220 can comprise, but is not limited to, the following modules:a time management module, a configuration persistence module, thefirmware, web server and machine-to-machine interface, a data archive,various predictive algorithms, and communication interfaces, e.g., foremail, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), etc. The DAN 230 can comprise, butis not limited to, XBee ZBee interface module, and firmware.

While generally the restroom convenience center system 100 is referredto in the singular sense, it should be appreciated that in certainembodiments multiple areas of the restroom convenience center systems100 may be linked to a networked system providing for centralizedcontrol and/or data warehousing. Thus, FIG. 5A illustrates a restroomconvenience center controller 110 in communication with informationsources 111. Typically this represents a single restroom 101, such asshown in FIG. 1. FIGS. 5B and 5C are diagrams illustrating anotherexemplary aspect of the present invention, wherein a plurality of therestroom convenience center controller 110, each individually associatedwith their own respective restroom(s), are coupled to a central globalcommand unit, e.g., network operations center (NOC) 510.

Various embodiments contemplate a central monitor and control systemassociated with a large venue, such as, for example, a conventioncenter, an airport, a school, a hospital or a sports stadium in which alarge number of restrooms 101 reside therein. In such an embodiment,each restroom 101 can have its own restroom convenience centercontroller 110 associated therewith, in which data is received fromvarious information sources 111 therein, and a status communication isthen communicated in response thereto. More particularly, in the presentexample, such data is transmitted over a communication pathway such as adata bus [not shown], through a router [not shown] (optional), to aglobal command unit over a system level data bus.

With specific reference to FIG. 5B, three separate restroom conveniencecenter controllers 110 are illustrated as being in communication with aNOC 510. The restroom NOC 510 includes a restroom management database511 allowing for storage and retrieval of information, such as forperforming predicting functions as further described below. In addition,it should be appreciated that various software modules may be residentor accessible via the Internet 250 to allow functionality for messaging,predictive maintenance, consumable replenishment, route planning, LEED(Leadership in Energy Efficiency Design) compliance, water conservation,figures of merit, policy compliance, and building and patron safety.Such an embodiment may be useful for controlling all of the restroom 101within a given facility. FIG. 5C is a further embodiment wherein eachrestroom convenience center controller 110 for a facility is incommunication with an intermediary controller 520 for that facilitywhich is in turn, along with other like controllers 520 for otherfacilities, in communication with a NOC 510. It will be appreciated thatsuch an embodiment may be useful in monitoring global facilities withina single entity or providing restroom management services to a group ofdifferent entities.

Although optional, the intelligent routers [not shown] may be employedin the present example to facilitate an orderly transfer of data to theNOC 510 in an orderly fashion to avoid packet collisions, etc. In oneexample, the analysis of collected data, discussed further below, isperformed at the restroom convenience center and alarm conditions andstates are passed on to the NOC 510. However, in another embodiment ofthe present invention, some portions of analysis are performed at boththe restroom convenience center controller 110 level and at the NOC 510level. For example, to the extent that further analysis is to beperformed to compare and/or analyze historical or trend data between thevarious different restrooms, as is further discussed below, suchanalysis can be done at (passed up to) the NOC 510.

The restroom convenience center controller 110 will also periodicallyexport accumulated system and device data to an outside server 510 asdescribed above. The system operator may configure the restroomconvenience center controller 110 to export none, some, or all of theinterim/direct data that it collects from the facilities (e.g. exportingall sensor data from the flushometers, or exporting all accumulated airquality sensor 156 data) which would otherwise be discarded. In additionto this interim data, all accumulated totals (e.g. total flushes, totalfaucet run time) will be sent to an outside server. Data is sent as, forexample, a comma-separated-value (CSV) file attached to a regular email.One skilled can appreciate XML format, SNMP (Simple Network ManagementProtocol) format, to name a few can equally be applicable. The locationof the email server or the type of recipient (machine, human) isunimportant; the only requirement being that the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 is properly configured to contact an outgoing mailserver on its local network (via Ethernet or WiFi).

A key benefit of a centralized approach embodiment, especially whenmonitoring a very large number of geographically distributed restrooms101, includes the ability to leverage existing commercial database,knowledge engine, data mining, customer help desk, and customerrelationship management software applications when building restroommanagement applications. Such a large scale system would require,preferably, the computing power to run sophisticated applications on topof the commercial software packages to speed development and reducedevelopment costs. Applications might include predictive failure modelsbased on statistical methods such as the Poisson distribution, dynamicresource scheduling based on queuing theory, route planning, and orderforecasting. Alternatively, a smaller scale system may not require aback office to aggregate data from multiple locations, but instead wouldplace a high value on a localized system that is remotely accessible andwould likely emphasize different benefits from that of a corporateretail client for instance. While some of the same applications such aspredictive failure and route planning might be used with the localizedsystem, they would likely be a subset of the full application residentat the data warehouse.

If an alarm event, or need to take corrective action, is detected by therestroom convenience center controller 110 the alarm text, alarm time,restroom convenience center controller 110 identifier, alarm type, andany alarm-specific data is dispatched to the address(es) configured forthat type of alarm. An alarm is only dispatched once while it is active.No new alarms of the type will be sent until the alarm is reset. Thealarm is cleared by the restroom convenience center controller 110 ifthe condition that causes the alarm is reversed. The alarm is cleared bya user, for instance via a restroom convenience center controller 110web page.

Additionally, actions can be prompted in accordance with variousembodiments, such as the generation of work orders. That is, after anappropriate one of the sensors 112 senses a state of one of a pluralityof the restroom fixtures 130 described above, e.g., calculating the useof each type of consumable based upon a predetermined average usage foreach consumable, the calculated usage for each type of consumable isaggregated to determine a total amount of consumable usage. When thetotal amount of consumable usage surpasses a predetermined threshold, awork order can be issued by the restroom convenience center controller110 for replenishing each type of consumable for which the respectivethreshold has been surpassed. Likewise, when the controller 110determines, based on the data from the sensors 112, that maintenance(preventative or remedial) is required, a work order, including likelyreplacement parts, can be generated.

Referring back to FIG. 3, further detail regarding portions of thestructure of the restroom convenience center system 100 and the relativeinteractions of the sensors 112 (such as water closet automaticactivation sensor 151 and faucet automatic activation sensor 153), theperipheral devices 113 (such as patron counter device 158, and cardreader 172) the controller 110, and communication pathways is shown.FIG. 3, illustrates an overview diagram of a network for effectuatingvarious embodiments.

Generally speaking, all the sensors 112 associated with particularfacilities in the restroom 101 (e.g., the patron counter 158, theurinals 134, the consumable dispenser 142, the water closet 132, thefaucets 136, etc) can transmit their data to the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 wirelessly (as described above), to avoidcomplicated or expensive wiring in the restroom 101. The use of wirelesscommunications in association with automatic urinal 134, the watercloset 132, and the faucets 136 allows for application of the describedsystem without invasive work on the restroom. For example, the sensors112 can communicate with the restroom convenience center controller 110using, a ZigBee wireless network protocol.

FIG. 3 also illustrates a local area network (LAN) 310 to which therestroom convenience center controller 110 is communicatively connectedvia, for example, a 10/100 Base T Ethernet or 802.11 wireless, orcellular data connection. The LAN 310 can provide connectivity to andfrom the restroom convenience center controller 110 and a global commandcenter, e.g., a restroom convenience center controller 110 server and/orthe NOC 510 described in greater detail below. The LAN 310 caneffectuate communications in the form of a Web interface, emailservices, short message services (SMS) text for wireless devices using,for example, but not limited to extensible markup language (XML) and/orfile transport protocol (FTP).

In one embodiment, a janitor login interface 172, the patron counter158, and the indoor air quality sensor 156 and the presence sensors 150are also shown as being communicatively connected to the restroomconvenience center controller 110 for gathering and transmitting senseddata to the restroom convenience center controller 110. Additionally,the sensors 112 and the peripheral devices 113 described above can becollectively and wirelessly connected to the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 as well, again for sensing and transmitting data to therestroom convenience center controller 110.

With continued reference to FIG. 3, the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 is configured to operate on the LAN 310 of the facilityin which it is installed as described to above. Each of the restroomconvenience center controllers 110 can be configured, by default, to usea dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) to acquire network settingsautomatically. Each restroom convenience center controller 110 may alsobe manually configured with fixed network settings if required. Itshould be noted that for embodiments utilizing Wi-Fi, the restroomconvenience center controller 110 may require additional configurationto access the wireless network, including the use of a SSID (Service SetIdentifier) code as well as a WEP (Wired Equivalent Privacy) or WPA(Wi-Fi Protected Access) encryption key. Depending on the configurationof the DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) server, it may benecessary to enter additional information manually, such as the SMTP(Simple Mail Transfer Protocol) server required for email delivery.Because the network settings may be configured through the serial port,it is not necessary to access the restroom convenience center controller110 over the network to modify its network settings, but can beconfigured via the LUI 180.

In addition, in a preferred embodiment, the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 can automatically discover active nodes, typicallyassociated with one of the sensors 112 or the peripheral device 113.Through a web interface, e.g., embedded web pages discussed below, asystem operator can see a list of discovered nodes and add those nodesto the restroom convenience center controller 110 system. The operatorcan also manually add nodes to the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 system in the event that automatic discovery is notpossible or feasible (e.g., by adding a battery-operated node).

It should also be appreciated that each of the sensors 112 or theperipheral device 113 may further include an associated identifier, suchas a unique identifier used to differentiate the data from one of theparticular fixtures 130 from another. For example, it may be desirablefor the system to be able to discern the first urinal from the thirdurinal in the bank of urinals 134 such that 50 actuations of each is notindicative of the need to replace the deodorant but 100 actuations of asingle one of the urinals 134 would be indicative.

Regarding the real time clock of the DCU 210, the real time clock 240allows for time stamping events transmitted to the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110. The use of a “time stamp” for events allows for adetermination of elapsed time, such as between events or between anadjustable baseline and an event. Using the real time clock 240, therestroom convenience center controller 110 can also determine the needfor certain actions based on the passage of time. For example, thereplenishment of consumables and general cleaning may be based on patronvolume and sensor activations as previously described, but may alsofactor in the time elapsed since a previous cleaning.

A. Sensors

As has been discussed above, one component of the restroom conveniencecenter system 100 is the sensor 112 or a plurality of the sensors 112used to provide information regarding the restroom 101 and stakeholders.According to one embodiment, the system 100 includes at least one of thesensors 112, which may be associated with a portion of the fixture 130in the restroom 101 or generally monitor a state or property of therestroom 101, such as occupancy. Generally speaking, the sensors 112will either be “independent” from the fixtures 130 in the restroom 101,such as an air quality sensor 156 or the patron counter 158. Othersensors 112 are dependent, i.e. associated with a fixture 130 to sense afunction associated with the given fixture 130, such as signage forcurrent time use of one or more of the fixtures and predicted time toavailability or direction to an available fixture 130 or anotherrestroom 101. The invention considers all possibilities for obtainingdata, including “inferred” data based on other non-direct measurements,native communications built into the flush valve, add-on modules totransduce the events of interest, and also non-direct methods such asultrasonically monitoring a plumbing riser and using digital signalprocessing techniques to uniquely identify the fixture 130 actuation.Some illustrative, non-limiting, examples of the sensors 112 for usewith the present invention are described in greater detail below. In amore global view if other like restrooms 101 are present in the samesite, the other restroom 101 need have only limited numbers of thesensors 112 relative to a first “typical” restroom 101, thereby allowingaccurate prediction of usage in all like restrooms 101. It should benoted however, that not all the fixtures 130 within the restroom 101need to be associated with and the sensors 112. As will be describedbelow in greater detail, data from one sensors 112 or the restroom 101may be used to predict the current or future state of the given fixture130, consumable, or the restroom 101 in general.

It should be appreciated that the number and type of the sensors 112utilized in any given restroom or series of restrooms 101 may be varieddepending on the desired accuracy, reliability, and cost of the system100. In addition, in one embodiment, the sensors 112 includesensor-level controllers or fixture 130-level controllers [not shown]disposed at that fixture 130 that provide varying types of control basedupon the type of the fixture 130 or the sensor 112 associated therewith.Further, the types of the sensors 112 may be varied depending on theparticular restroom's venue or usage. While the desired results to beachieved by the restroom convenience center system 100 will vary fromuser to user, FIG. 6 illustrates a table 610 including one estimate ofbenefits, needs, or requirements 630 according to the market 620. As canbe seen, the importance of various aspects able to be addressed by therestroom convenience center system 100 vary from market to market.

For example, an airport restroom sensor suite might include a presencesensor 150, such as for the automatic urinal 134 and the air qualitysensor 156. This sensor suite might be chosen to optimize housekeepingefficiency since an airport typically contains a large number of therestrooms 101 typified by periods of high traffic followed by low or notraffic. Alternatively, a sensor suite for the restroom 101 in an officebuilding might include the door-positioned patron counter 158 and theair quality sensor 156 to optimize the building's image and attention todetail. While not illustrated in FIG. 6, it should also be appreciatedthat there are other trends along which patterns can be drawn regardingdesired restroom convenience center system 100 functionality that drivesthe particular configuration and level of consumables service of therestroom convenience center system 100 for a given installation. Gender,for example, may play an important role in certain installations. Awoman's restroom may include sensors 112 for discerning the presence ofliquid as compared to solid waste in a water closet 132, while a men'srestroom may include sensors 112 for detecting users in operation of awaterless form of the urinals 134. Further, the sensors 112 utilized maybe varied depending on the desired relative importance of variousaspects of restroom configuration and maintenance.

Turning now to illustrative non-limiting examples of the sensors 112that may be used with the present invention, one type of the sensor 112that may be used is a motion or presence detection sensor 150, such asan IR sensor see (FIG. 1). Typically this type of sensor provides a“state” indication, i.e. a target within the detection zone, yes or no.In combination with a clock mechanism, the presence sensors 150 mayderive the length of time of the presence (or absence) of something inthe detection zone. It should be appreciated that presence sensors 150(see FIG. 3) are typically included in automatic actuation sensors suchas those used to provide “hands free” flushing of the water closet 132and the urinals 134 or “hands free” faucet and towel dispenseractivation. Thus, many of the “automatic” fixtures 130 within moderncommercial restrooms 101 already include sensors that can be used toprovide data to the restroom convenience center system 100 in accordancewith the present invention. For example, the presence sensor 150 may beassociated with the water closet 132, the urinal 134, the faucets 136,the consumable dispenser 142, such a paper towel dispenser, or proximitynear the entry/exit door. As has been previously mentioned, a portion ofthe fixture 130 may be associated with the sensors 112, as shown in FIG.1 or, alternatively, each of the fixtures 130 may be associated with thepresence sensor 150, such as shown in FIG. 3. The presence sensor 150operates to detect when a valid target (user) enters a detection zoneand then send a signal to actuate the device, typically either when thetarget enters the detection zone such as for the faucets 136 andconsumable dispensers 142 or when the target leaves the detections zonefor the water closet 132, the urinals 134, the faucet 136 or theentry/exit door.

With continued reference to FIG. 1, one specific type of presence sensor150 is a water closet automatic activation sensor 151 or urinal watercloset automatic activation sensor 151 (collectively flushometerautomatic activation sensor 151/152) associated with the urinal 134 orthe water closet 132, respectively, that may provide informationregarding absolute activations, absolute flow duration, periodicactivations, periodic flow duration, status, message count, time of useand battery information. A further type of the presence sensor 150 is afaucet automatic activation sensor 153 that may provide absoluteactivations, absolute flow duration, periodic activations, periodic flowduration, time of use, status, message count, and battery information.

Additional information is available from typical prior art sensors, suchas total activations, battery status, battery door status, time of use,and battery contact status. For example, the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 can record a running total of activations for eachflushometer, and will send alerts and notifications when the flushometergenerally indicates that its battery is sub-nominal. A water closetautomatic activation sensor 151 can record the number of flush valveactivations at the particular water closet 132. The water closetautomatic activation sensor 151 passes flush valve activation countinformation to the restroom convenience center controller 110 via, e.g.,a wireless link. Additionally, the water closet 132 flushometerautomatic activation sensor 151 keeps a running count of the number ofactivations locally in some non volatile memory (or can also be sent toa centralized offsite memory in a control center.) Periodically, thewater closet automatic activation sensor 151 will relay its absolutecount information (as well as other use information, such as cumulativetime of use) to the restroom convenience center controller 110.Alternatively, the flushometer automatic activation sensor 151/152 mayprovide a single output to the controller 110 when the count exceeds apredetermined threshold.

In terms of the faucets 136, the restroom convenience center controller110 supports collection of all available data from the faucets 136, bothbattery-operated and hard-wired. Available data can include, forexample, total run time, number of on/off water output cycles for eachuser, water flow (hot, cold, and/or total) and battery status. Therestroom convenience center controller 110 records a running total ofthe run time for each of the faucets 136, and will send alerts andnotifications when a battery-operated faucet 136 indicates that itsbattery is generally sub-optimal.

A further type of the presence sensor 150, not used to triggeractivation, may further be used in association with any one of thefixtures 130 to achieve an indication of usage of the fixture 130, timeof use and projected time of availability, which can be used fornotification to future users of the fixture 130 or even the wait timefor all or one of the fixtures 130 for any given restroom 101. This maybe of particular relevant for the fixture 130, such as waterless urinalsor baby changing tables, where the usage does not require an“activation” and instead just a count and duration. It should further beappreciated that it may be desirable to position the presence sensors150 where users may be utilizing the restroom 101, but not activatingthe fixture 130 or using consumables, such as someone merely standing atthe sink to use the mirror or collecting a paper towel for personal use.

Other types of the sensors 112 also fall within the spirit and scope ofthe invention. For example, a water flow sensor 160 is a sensor formeasuring the flow of water through a given fixture 130 or supply line.Such the water flow sensor 160 may comprise a simple flow meter. Againwith reference to FIG. 1, the sensor 112 may include the water flowsensor 160 associated with at least one water supply line [not shown]for the restroom 101, for example associated with a main water supplyline and providing water to the restroom 101. The water flow sensor 160may provide information regarding the absolute flow and the periodicflow. One such one of the water flow sensors 160 is described in, U.S.patent application Ser. Nos. 12/253,745 and 12/253,745 assigned to thepresent assignee. Not every one of the fixtures 130 necessarily needs aflow sensor; and indeed if a bank of the fixtures 130 has one connectedupstream of the supply, this can enable narrowing down a leak problem toa very finite set of the fixture 130 on a common plumbing wall.

Not every sensor 112 needs be directly associated with the fixture 130.For example, the air quality sensor 156 may be utilized to provide dataassociated with the air quality within the restroom 101 or a portion ofthe restroom 101. While the figures and description generally describethe use of the single air quality sensor 156 per restroom 101 positionedto measure the general air quality of the space, it should beappreciated that one or more of the air quality sensors 156 could bepositioned to be more highly correlated to space surrounding aparticular fixture 130. The air quality sensor 156 may be configured toprovide raw gas values and/or air quality values and also detectspecific types of gases or air contamination.

The restroom convenience center controller 110 can collect the airquality sensor 156 data from one or more of the air quality sensors 156installed in the restroom 101. Additionally, the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 has a provision for one locally-connected airquality sensor 156 although additional sensors 112 can be added via, forexample, the ZigBee wireless network. The restroom convenience centercontroller 110 can also monitor the air quality sensor 156 levels anddetermine the overall air quality of the restroom 101 from this data. Itshould be noted that although the restroom convenience center controller110 does not need to retain the air quality sensor 156 historical datain memory, a system operator may configure the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 to export this data to an outside server or otherinternal separate unit for establishing profiles of certain parametersfor future predictive use or for threshold evaluations.

Another sensor that need not be associated with the given fixture 130 isa patron counter 158. The patron counter 158 provides a “count” of thepassage of an object, such as a user, through a given space. The Patroncounters 158 are well known for being able to measure presence anddirection of travel and may comprise the presence sensors 150, such asdiscussed above, or may be the sensors 112 such as those measuring “doorswings” by capacitance or other means. Typically the patron counter 158will be positioned near an entrance or exit (but can be positioned foruse with the water closet 132) so as to provide a count of individualsentering and/or leaving the restroom 101. The patron counter 158 mayrecord an absolute count and/or a time period count.

The patron counter 158 may be employed alone or in concert to ascertaintraffic associated with the restroom as well as a usage thereof. Forexample, referring to FIG. 1, a patron counter 158 located at anentrance of the restroom 101 may give a count of a number of peopleentering and exiting the facility over a given period of time. For agiven sampling period of time, the average length of time a personremains in the restroom can be determined. In addition, a second one ofthe patron counters 158 located at one or more other locations may beutilized to obtain a count of individuals that used the facility. Forexample, the patron counter 158 may be located at the faucets 136 or atdoors of the water closet 132 or other locations. In the above manner,two types of data may be collected to give information relating to whatpercentage of people entering the restroom 101 actually use the watercloset 132, etc., as opposed to, for example, simply using the mirrorfor grooming or other purposes. The average length of time for a givenperiod of time of a person remaining in the restroom 101 can be comparedto the average service time for each of the fixtures 130 and thatcomparison can dictate whether a person will experience a queue time(wait time) or not and even impact service time or scheduling action forthat fixture. With more advanced modeling of the monitored times,probabilistic models can be simulated and effectuated in realtime toobtain more predictive expectations of how long a user may expect towait and then output that information for display to the user.

Yet another of the sensors 112 that may be utilized without associatingspecifically with the fixture 130 is a temperature sensor 162 (FIG. 9).The temperature sensor 162 may be internal or external to the restroom101 or both may be provided. Further, the temperature sensor 162 may bea component of the HVAC system. Such information may be relevant tofuture service actions or provide predictive information as to thefixture 130 use and consumables replenishment (such as the outsidetemperature being extremely hot or cold resulting in changes of restroomuse.

As discussed regarding other aspects of the invention, the presencesensors 150 may include a time element for detecting the duration of ause (i.e. the duration of the presence detection). Other ones of thesensors 112 in the restroom 110 may include the sensors 112 employed toidentify the presence of consumable supplies such as water closet paper,paper napkins, soap, and other products such as deodorizers and/orsanitizers.

As was generally mentioned above regarding the data collection by theDCU 210, the timing of data collection may vary depending on informationsource 111. For example, the patron call device 173 for a patron and thetamper switch or sensor 181 may provide asynchronous data collection,sending a signal to the DCU 210 whenever they are “activated”. However,the air quality sensor 156 and the temperature sensor 162 may providedata in regular time intervals. Further, the data may be provided as a“pull” by the controller 110 from the information source 111 or “push”from the information source 111 to the controller 110.

Although a single one of the sensors 112 is illustrated in FIG. 1 asbeing associated with a given fixture 130, and the present applicationgenerally refers to sensor in the singular when referring to thesensorization of a single fixture 130, it should be appreciated thatmultiple sensors 112 having differing functions may be employed on thegiven fixture 130, as may be desired. In one example, each water supplyline (not shown) associated with the individual water closet 132 or theurinal 134 may also have the water flow sensor 160 associated therewithto measure the volume of water (as opposed merely to the activation ofthe water closet 132 or the urinal 134 by the water flow sensor 160).

In addition, each of the sensors 112 may include the ability to“discern” more than one aspect of the restroom 101. For example, thesensor 112 may include a number of individual sensor units spacedtogether or apart. For example, it may be desirous to use multiplepatron counters 158 to form a larger detection area within a singularrestroom 101. In addition, some of the sensors 112 may provideadditional data that relates to more than one aspect of the restroom101. One example would be the air quality sensor 156. In certainembodiments, the air quality sensor 156 not only provides an outputsignal proportional to the summation of a broad class of VolatileOrganic Compounds (VOCs), but it is possible to extract timinginformation from the output signal that can be used for patternrecognition. The VOC output signal in combination with the extractedtiming information and pattern recognition can be used to predict anddiscriminate activities such as cigarette smoking from other VOCgenerating events.

In another illustrative example, as previously discussed, the flushvalve of the fixture 130 may have the sensor 112 that can provide anindication of when an individual is present, when they have left, andhow long they were present in addition to when the flush valve istriggered. For a flush valve associated with the presence sensor 150,data gathered may include the occurrence of a complete flush cycle, themanner of actuation, i.e. manual or automatic, the type of flushselected, such as a partial flush or a full flush, and the length oftime the presence or actual use was detected, such as to indicate eithersolid (longer time) or liquid (shorter time) waste in the water closet132. Further, based on the type of sensor 112 employed, variousdiffering states associated with the fixture 130 may be monitored, suchas “standby” (no valid target/user within the detection zone), “armed”(valid target/user detected), and “flushed” or “activated” (user isserviced and leaves the detection zone) for the water closet 132 or theurinal 134. In addition, a timer may be used, such as equivalent to the“armed time” of automatic activation sensors, to provide informationregarding the length of time a user is “present” at the water closet132, the urinal 134, the faucet 136, the consumable dispenser 142 orother restroom device. This time value can be used to generate “service”or use time for that particular fixture 130. Collecting and analyzingthe service times for a particular user population time span can beanalyzed within the system software to predict or to report status ofthe asset and to anticipate service needs. This reporting can be formaintenance scheduling or for signaling users as to the wait status theymay encounter by using the restroom 101 or any selected one of thefixtures 130 of their choosing.

In certain embodiments, the predictive aspects of the inventiondescribed below may be used to predict the state of one of the restroom101 from the sensor data from another. In such an embodiment, it ispreferable that the “dependent” restroom 101 include at least one sensor112 of the same type as the primary restroom 101, such as a patroncounter 158, to allow for normalization and benchmarking between the tworestrooms. This capability can enable reduction of sensor 112 needed andsimplify service action.

B. Peripheral Devices

The restroom convenience center controller 110, as described above, isable to accept input from stakeholders for various purposes and showngenerally in FIGS. 2 and 9. The restroom 101 control system, in oneembodiment, further comprises a patron call device 173 for the purposeof indicating an unsatisfactory condition in the restroom 101 e.g., analarm notification upon a user activation thereof. The input to therestroom convenience center controller 110 can be effectuated via asimple momentary input, e.g., a switch or touchless sensor.Alternatively, voice input such as via recording a patron voice messageor a “live” chat with an operator can also be implemented. Therefore,when a patron activates the patron call device 173 (FIG. 1) input, therestroom convenience center controller 110 assumes that anunsatisfactory condition now exists, unknown to owner, in the restroom101 and that service is required. The restroom convenience centercontroller 110 can additionally dispatch any notifications or alarmsthat would be required because of this action. The restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 can also record the timestamp of all patronactivations and export this information to an outside server, e.g., therestroom convenience center controller 110 server, on a periodic basis.

The patron call device 173 may also include a confirmation aspect, suchthat a user must confirm the activation to avoid accidental or prankpatron calls. In one example, the patron call device 173 is generic andsimply indicates a user need in the restroom 101. In anotheralternative, the patron call device 173 contains multiple buttons orindicators and a graphical user interface, and is configured to senddata relating to specific requests, for example, a maintenance request,a supply replenishment request, or a medical emergency. In oneembodiment, the system 100 is configured to monitor the status of apatron call, such as patron calls not yet confirmed, response status forconfirmed patron calls, and historical number of patron calls.

It should also be noted that the restroom convenience center controller110 or individual sensors within the restroom 101 can include or belocally connected to one or more of the tamper sensors 181. The tampersensor or switch 181 can detect when an outer casing of the restroomconvenience center controller 110 is removed or otherwise tampered withand effectuate an alarm condition or notification.

In a further embodiment, a janitor and/or maintenance interface 172 isprovided. The restroom convenience center controller 110 can acceptinput from a standard radio-frequency (RF) contactless card reader toallow individual janitorial staff to indicate that the restroom 101 hasbeen serviced. If a janitor activates the card reader, the restroomconvenience center controller 110 assumes that any previously indicatedunsatisfactory conditions have been resolved, and that consumableresupply has occurred. In one embodiment, the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 records the time, duration, and identity of alljanitorial visits and exports this information to an outside server on aperiodic basis as well.

In one embodiment, the janitor and/or maintenance interface 172 (FIGS. 2and 9), described above is used to create the electronic version of a“restroom serviced” clipboard displayable on a graphical user interface,such a LUI 180. When a janitor activates the interface 172, the date andtime is recorded. When the janitor completes servicing the restroom 101,the janitor interface 172 is reactivated thereby creating a record ofthe duration of service personnel visit. Additionally, the janitorinterface 172 can record the identity of the servicing janitor. A methodfor recording the service provided by the maintenance personnel (i.e.general re-supply, cleaning, etc.) is also provided. The ability toreset predictive algorithms to a baseline condition based on re-supplyby maintenance personnel is provided as well, in addition to the abilityto enter actual consumables inventory for fine tuning of predictivere-supply algorithms.

Further, the LUI 180 may be provided within the restroom 101. The LUI180 can provide an interface for patrons and/or servicing personnel,such as janitors, access to the restroom convenience center controller110 for reporting certain conditions as described above. Thus, the LUI180 may serve as the patron call device 173 and the janitor logininterface 172. In addition, the LUI 180 can be utilized when configuringthe restroom convenience center controller 110 via, e.g., a laptopcomputer, PDA, or other processor. For example, patrons can utilize theLUI 180 to indicate that the particular restroom fixture 130 or assetneeds servicing or attention in accordance with a patron-specific LUI180 screen, while another LUI 180 screen can be displayed when a janitoraccesses the restroom convenience center controller 110. That is, when ajanitor accesses the restroom convenience center controller 110, anelectronic “restroom service” clipboard can appear.

C. Restroom Convenience Center System Operation

The sensors 112, communications pathways, and the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 function to provide stakeholders with informationregarding the historic, current, and predicted conditions in therestroom 101. Although the methods and functionality are illustrated anddescribed below as a series of acts or events, it will be appreciatedthat the present invention is not limited by the illustrated ordering ofsuch acts, events, or functionality. For example, some acts may occur indifferent orders and/or concurrently with other acts or events apartfrom those illustrated and/or described herein, in accordance with theinvention. In addition, not all illustrated functionality may berequired to implement a methodology or system in accordance with thepresent invention. The methods of the present invention, moreover, maybe implemented in association with the devices illustrated and describedherein as well as in association with other devices and systems notillustrated and utilize various combinations of components.

Various stakeholders have been previously discussed in regard tointeractions and usage of the restroom convenience center system 100.FIG. 7 illustrates one non-exhaustive list of stakeholders and theinformation provided by the restroom convenience center system 100 toand/or used by those stakeholders, including building owner/operations801, building maintenance personal 702, patrons 703,janitorial/housekeeping 704, government agencies 705, manufacturer 706.

More specifically, FIGS. 8A and 8B are detailed diagrams representativeof various actions, events, and/or interactions that are contemplated inaccordance with various embodiments. The stakeholders illustrated inFIGS. 8A and 8B are the patron 703, facility operations 701, facilitymaintenance 702, restroom convenience center system 100 manufacturing706, restroom convenience center system maintainers 850, janitorial 704,and information sources 111. It should be noted that although FIGS. 8Aand 8B represent human actors, such roles can comprise systems anddevices, e.g., facility operations can be personnel as well as facilityoperations management systems.

FIG. 8A illustrates various actors and/or roles that may interact and beassociated with restroom convenience center system 100 described hereinin accordance with various embodiments, wherein such activities can beconsidered to be frequently performed. In the embodiment of FIG. 8Apatrons 703, for example, can interact by way of service requests. Itshould be appreciated also that patrons 703 will interact with therestroom convenience center system 100 though their use of sensorizedportions of the restroom 101, such as the urinals 134 or the faucets136. Additionally, patrons' 703 actions can be directed and/or motivatedby announcements, directions, etc., to, for example, move on to adifferent restroom facility due to long wait times being anticipated foruse of the restroom 101 or the fixture 130 being disabled or wait timesfor the fixtures 130 being excessive. Facilities operations activitiesinclude: handle alarms, information processing (such as a predictivemaintenance report, resupply forecasting report, and predictive resupplyand air quality alarms and reports), alarm configuration, algorithmconfiguration, service report, LEED compliance report, system reset, andsystem configuration.

Facility maintenance activities may include: system reset, systemconfiguration, system diagnostics, device calibration, algorithmcalibration, and device commissioning restroom convenience center system100 manufacturing activities include executing code testing and updatingprograms such as by flashing memory. Those monitoring the restroomconvenience center system 100 may also perform updates to theprogramming.

Janitorial activities include responding to service calls and regularservice of the restroom 101, but of which may involve the janitor loginfunction. The restroom 101 devices, such as the fixtures 130, and otherservices devices also may interact with the restroom convenience centersystem 100 to perform activities such as receiving set points, sendingdata and timestamps, alarming generation, device calibration, and devicecommissioning. The NOL 510, independent system integrators 881 and BAS882 all provide information gateway activities.

Those activities that are likely to occur less frequently areillustrated in FIG. 8B. For example, the patron may perform prankservice requests or tamper with the restroom convenience center system100. The facility operations and facility maintenance may experience aloss of HVAC, lighting, water pressure, communication, or power. Therestroom convenience center system 100 manufacturing and restroomconvenience center system 100 maintainers may experience a failure ofthe program updating. The janitorial staff also may forget to utilizethe janitor login interface 172 or the login may result in an unknown orunauthorized entry. The restroom 101 devices may experience componentfailure or, particularly in the case of wireless devices, intermittentdata transmission or total communication failure. Likewise, the NOC 510,independent system integrators 881, and BAS 882 may experiencecommunication failure.

Thus, each stakeholder has certain activities and interactions with therestroom convenience center system 100, including potentiallyproblematic interactions or indications that can be addressed by therestroom convenience center system 100. For example, the restroomconvenience center system 100 can sense and respond to patrons thattamper with the restroom convenience center controller 110 and/or thefixtures 130, the sensors 112, the counters 158, etc. As describedabove, the restroom convenience center controller 110 can alsodistinguish between real and “prank” or accidental service requests.Additionally, through the use of the restroom convenience center system100, facility operations and maintenance personnel or systems can beapprised of and respond to a loss in heating, ventilation, and airconditioning (HVAC) services, loss of lighting, loss of water pressure,communication failures, and power failures (e.g., to the restroomconvenience center controller 110). Restroom convenience centercontroller 110 manufacturing and maintenance personnel can perform codetesting and program updating with regard to, for example the restroomconvenience center controller 110. Janitors on the other hand, canrespond to service calls or simply being routine and regular service,and log such service by way of swiping a smart card (or otheridentifying device). Additionally, janitorial staff that either forgotto swipe their card or result in unauthorized entry/unknown identity canalso be sensed and addressed in the restroom convenience center system100. Interactive Stakeholders, such as NOC 510 operators, buildingautomation system (BAS) operators 881, and/or independent systemintegrators 882 can access the restroom convenience center system 100via some manner of information gateway (e.g., embedded web pages, LANconnection, etc.) For example, if the updating program function (viaflashing the memory) fails, restroom convenience center controllermaintainers 850 and/or manufacturing personnel 706 can interacttherewith. In addition, the restroom fixtures 130 can interact with therestroom convenience center system 100 via the use thereof, where setpoints can be received, data and timestamps of such usage or determinedand transmitted, alarm and/or notification generation. It should benoted that the calibration of algorithms, device calibration, as well asdevice commissioning can be effected by or in response to usage.Moreover, failed or intermittent communications with and the failure ofwired information sources 214 and wireless devices 215 can be sensed andaddressed as well.

Whereas FIGS. 1 and 3 illustrated overview diagrams of a restroom 101and its respective elements, e.g., the restroom fixture 130, the sensors112, activators, etc., FIG. 9 is a more detailed illustration of theelements, users/service staff, communications aspects, and interactionsthere between. FIG. 9 illustrates a restroom convenience centercontroller 110 as the “hub” of the restroom 101. Certain of theperipheral devices 113 and/or the sensors 112 are shown to be connectedto the restroom convenience center controller 110, e.g., the patroncounter 158, plumbing devices, temperature sensor 162, the tamper sensoror switch 181, and the air quality sensor 156 being hardwired to therestroom convenience center controller 110 and a second one of the airquality sensors 156 being wirelessly connected thereto. Additionally,various bathroom controls and machine-to-machine links to externalsystems are shown with respect to the restroom convenience centercontroller 110.

D. Restroom Convenience Center System Operation—Capturing Sensor Data

In the broadest sense, the sensors 112 employed within the restroom 101and/or the fixture 130 controllers pre-assigned functions by monitoring,and/or sensing one or more first pieces of data therein at 1004 (FIG.10). For example, a patron counter 158 (see FIG. 1) is operable toidentify a traffic amount within the restroom 101 to generate a countassociated therewith. A presence sensor 150 is operable to identify whenthe water closet 132 or the urinal 134 is flushed to likewise generate acount (and also timing information as described herein). As describedherein, timing information can also be collected and used for userinformation and predictive purposes as well which will be furtherdescribed hereinafter.

As illustrated in FIG. 10, the sensor 112 sends the data associatedtherewith to a respective restroom convenience center controller 110 ina series of steps. At step 1002, the sensors 112 are initialized. Atstep 1004, the sensor is actively monitoring the restroom 101. At step1006, sensed data is sent to the controller 110. At step 1008, thestatus condition is communicated based on an analysis of the senseddata. At step 1010, an alarm is sent. At step 1012, operationsparameters are issued. At step 1014, data is stored. The restroomconvenience center controller 110 is configured to receive such data andthrough the use of predictive algorithms, heuristics, and/or inferentialstatistics applied to the data, infer information, such as a statuscondition of the restroom 101 associated with the respective functionsat 1008.

In one embodiment, the sensor data is brought into the restroomconvenience center system 100 using a selected media and protocol, butthe sensor's functional profile remains the same with the data being“normalized” when it is stored in memory. An application programminginterface (API) can then be used to flatten out the hierarchicalrepresentation of the sensor data to ease the burden of applicationdevelopment. This embodiment provides for improved speed of applicationdevelopment and flexible and modular communication options due to thenormalized data forms used for the sensor data. A program needing accessto the data from the sensors 112, such as to make probabilisticpredictions described below, would access only the required parametersrather than a sensor's full functional profile variable set. The sensorand device data formats may be defined by a schema. The “flattened”sensor data may be provided as “Meta” data to an application,simplifying the need for tedious parsing operations.

The status condition can thus be considered to be indicative of a needfor at least one corrective measure and is communicated, such as to theNOC 510, a cell phone, PDA, computer workstation, or other devices,wherein such status conditions can initiate the transmission of a faultor alarm notification (actionable or informational), one or moreoperating parameters, or a data report relating to use or traffic in therestroom 101 at a given time or over a period of time.

In one embodiment, information regarding changes over time are utilizedas well as static “snap-shots” regarding the state of the restroom 101.For example, the air quality sensor 156 may detect a high VOC level.This may be predictive of either usage of high water volumes by thewater closet 132 or may be predictive of a clogged form of the watercloset 132. Thus, to discriminate between the events of the exampleabove (high VOC associated with usage vs. a clogged bowl) logic may beused. For instance, one method would be to first examine the rate ofchange associated with the air quality sensors 156. Next it would bevaluable to know whether the restroom 101 is currently occupied, such asfrom the state of the presence sensors 150. An examination of the timestamps for multiple flushes might also help to discriminate between alegitimate air quality sensor 156 event in the making vs. a cloggedbowl. It should be appreciated that a combination of logic, statistics,and pattern recognition can be combined to provide a high probability offorecasting the state based on indirect sensor inputs. This type oftiming analysis also is applicable to other of the fixtures 130 in therestroom 101.

Based on the received data, the controller 110 is further operable toascertain and communicate a status condition associated with the variousmonitored functions. For certain data, the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 may include a “threshold” value for which the respectivesensor data is accumulated until the respective threshold is exceededand a status condition is determined. Thus, the state table 1200 (FIGS.12A-C), discussed below, is not utilized to determine the state of therestroom 101 until the appropriate values for each of the sensors 112are reached. Thus, values corresponding to different time windows may becombined when determining the state. In one embodiment, the controller110 is operably coupled to the one or more sensors 112, and configuredto receive first states data therefrom associated with a first set offeatures, which the sensors 112 monitor, to determine second state dataassociated with a second set of features not necessarily monitored.

E. Threshold

In one embodiment, the restroom convenience center controller 110estimates the future state of the restroom 101, or the fixtures 130 orother features or components within the restroom 101, by determining thecurrent state of the restroom 101 or the components therein andevaluating such current state information over time. One manner ofdetermining the current state is through the use of a state table 1200.The process of populating the state table may vary widely depending onthe specifics of the application. For example, for purposes ofconsistency, a fast food restaurant chain may want all the restroomconvenience center system 100 state tables to operate strictly inaccordance with a set policy or combination of policies. This is incontrast to an application such as an airport where responsiveness toprioritized needs drives a requirement for the system to be adaptive. Inthe former case, an application would simply compare the normalizedsensor data with the “pre-determined” table of allowable states completewith pre-determined thresholds and weightings. The latter case willinvolve conventional and well known stochastic methods and predictivemodels, such as the finite Markov chain. Markov is a stochasticmethodology which predicts a future action based upon existing data andprobabilities of future states. If a restroom is at state 5 according toFIG. 12 patron visits are very high and a patron call button hasalarmed. In a Markov decision chain a change state can be decided byseveral approaches concerning the probability of those approaches, Instate 5 a.) the patron visits could reduce and no further patron callswill be experienced, or b.) the patron visits will remain at the presentrate OR increase without a further patron call received. The actualprobability for each of the above (as well as others that can beconsidered) can be estimated and a decision/action made based upon theprobabilities. As can be seen, as more system data is accumulated andprocessed, information about traffic patterns at specific times canaffect the probability that patron visits will reduce simply because thesystem has learned the new information and it was extrapolated in theprobability. Also see the data of FIGS. 22A-22D and 23A-23D, which showthe behavior of such patron visits, and a look up table can be utilizedfor performing the above described Markov decision process. Using suchknown stochastic methods, it should be possible to predict the restroom101 state at a future point with higher accuracy occurring over time.The state table 1200 includes a list of states 1210, sensor data 1220,and the response 1230 corresponding to the state. While the state table1200 of FIGS. 12A-C includes 64 possible states, it should beappreciated the possible states are a function of the number of inputsand also that using a similar technique to a Karnaugh-map they can befactored down into a lesser set of discrete response scenarios. Fuzzylogic may be applied to the data contained in the state table that takesinto account prior states, trending, and predicted next state.

It should be appreciated that a wide variety of factors may exhibit acorrelation, to one degree or another, with the “state” of the restroom101, a portion of the restroom 101, or a consumable within the restroom101. For a given installation, it is desirable to utilize the fewestnumber of the sensors 112 necessary to provide the desired levelsaccuracy and precision in predicting future states of the restroom 101.

Thus, in one embodiment, the system 100 is configured to utilize a widevariety of information to determine the appropriate state table 1200reflective of the restroom 101 and/or the facility as a whole. It shouldbe appreciated that any combination of information may be used toestablish the thresholds and state table and that some measure ofincreased accuracy of the predictions can be achieved the moreinformation is used. Such information may include useful data relatingto the restroom 101, including layout, location within a buildingrelative to patron traffic and content, to the general user, includinggender and age, to the facility in which the restroom 101 is located,including purpose such as school or office building and layout such aswhether the restroom 101 is located near a lunch room or other heavypatron traffic and relating to external factors such as temperature andcalendar date or other external factors which are particularlysignificant or unusual days of the year or widespread illness of users(of which all the above parameters can be entered into the systempredictive function) indicative of predictable use level information.Such information may further include baseline statistical predictions orsensor data such as how long a typical user (both male and female)washes their hands following a solid waste event as compared to a liquidwaste event or the air quality sensor 156 output that corresponds tocigarette smoke or various other gases that may be present in therestroom 101.

The information may correlate to a known impact on the state table 1200,thresholds, or algorithms of the present invention. Table 1 providesnonlimiting examples of such correlations all of which can beestablished with statistical methods for predictive future use.

TABLE 1 Gender = male Lower correlation between water closet 132 use andhand washing female Higher correlation between water closet 132 use andhand washing, higher occurrence of accessing facility without using WCDate = normal No adjustment holiday Reduced traffic expectations hightraffic day (sporting Increased traffic expectations event at a schoolor election day at a civic center) Time = morning No adjustment lunchIncreased traffic expectations evening (at/before Increased trafficexpectations quitting time) Venue = school Increased focus on monitoringof noncompliances office building Increased focus on cleanliness ofrestroom airport Peak periods expected, higher volume of sink users notusing urinal or water closet 132 Configuration = waterless urinalsIncreased impact on VOC handicap accessible WC Reduced likelihood ofusage of WC, if in a business venue increased tendency for lower use oftoilet paper due to use of water closet 132 for changing clothes women'sfacility (no Increased reliance on peripheral sensors urinals) DoorwayParameters = open doorway Increase in sensitivity of VOC single doorwayNo adjustment multiple doorways/ Lowered thresholds for replenishmentrevolving doorway Rstm Mgmt Policies = office Normal maintenanceschedule school Increased time allotted for addressing noncompliancesstadium More frequent scheduling of maintenance Warning/Alarm/ Higherthresholds leading to generation of Report Notification notificationMeans and Protocol = gas station office Lower thresholds leading togeneration of notification

The state table 1200 for a school will likely be very different than thestate table for a similarly sized office building or athletic stadiumand other different facilities. For instance, the school's state tablemight contain lower thresholds and higher weightings for VOC detectionthan the office building. Installation parameters such as gender, venue,etc. affect the thresholds, weighting, ratios and other aspects of thestate table. A higher visits/hand wash ratio at a restaurant mightresult in a more aggressive consumable replenishment threshold in thestate table than a restroom located in a public park. FIG. 6 illustratesa table 610 including one possible set of benefits, needs, orrequirements 630 for various markets 620. It will be appreciated thatsuch factors may be varied and FIG. 6 is provided as a non-limitingexample.

One of the configuration parameters available for building the statetable involves entering a facility schedule for normal operations,holidays, special events and for occurrence of characterizable suddenevents, such as arrival of a multiple number of airplanes at one area ofan airport when the scheduled times were spaced apart. Such a “state”could statistically project the increased level of patron use andprepare and service the restroom 101 accordingly. Since the operation ofthe restroom convenience center system 100 will be implemented as astate machine, a heavy usage condition or a situation where theavailable resources are unable to service the backlog, the restroomconvenience center system 100 will transition for the normal operationstate to one of several off-normal states to begin redirecting patronsor other pertinent actions. This off-normal state will prioritizerequests among several restroom convenience center system 100 to servicethe restroom 101 is in the order of worst need first.

FIGS. 17-19 generally depict specific exemplary embodiments of logicthat maybe used with the present invention. FIG. 17 illustrates a method1700 of configuring and setting up the state table 1200 and thresholdsfor use in a particular installation. At step 1701 empirical data isentered and at step 1702 installation parameters are entered, at step1703, the empirical data and installation parameters are utilized togenerate initial states with weightings and threshold for predictingdesired states or consumable levels in the restroom 101. The generateddata may be further modified by manual adjustment via the LUI orembedded web pages. At step 1705, this generated information is storedin a memory. The generated data may be exported at step 1706 or proceedto step 1805 of FIG. 18.

Turning now to FIG. 18, one embodiment of a main operation logic 1800 ofthe restroom convenience center system 100 is depicted. At step 1801,restroom sensor data is acquired. At step 1802, a remove protocol isperformed and the data is transported and formatted. At step 1803, thesensor data is stored pursuant to a predetermined schema. At step 1804,the state table is populated for the current state. At step 1805, thecurrent state is compared to the acceptable state. At step 1806, adecision is made regarding whether the current state is acceptable. Ifit is, the system 100 returns to step 1801. If not, then the results areanalyzed at step 1807. Alarms are processed at step 1808 and theacceptable state table is updated at step 1809.

Turning now to FIG. 19, an alternative embodiment is depictedillustrating a method of operation 1900. Sensor/consumable correlationdata, empirical data, and site-specific experience are gathered at steps1901-1903 respectively. At step 1904, the desired state definition isdeveloped. At step 1905, a model of the current state is predicted. Atstep 1906, a determination is made regarding if visits are greater thena predetermined threshold for consumable replenishment. At step 1907, adetermination is made regarding if faucet activations are greater then apredetermined threshold for consumable replenishment. At step 1908, adetermination is made regarding if water closet activations are greaterthen a predetermined threshold for consumable replenishment. At step1909, a determination is made regarding if urinal activations aregreater then a predetermined threshold for consumable replenishment. Atstep 1910, the weighting and correlation factors are applied to sensorthreshold of steps 1906-1909. At step 1911, warnings, alarms, andreporting are implemented based upon the weighting, correlation, andthreshold. Realtime sensor data is gathered at step 1912 and the system100 returns to step 1905.

Turning to specific factors that may impact the state table andprobability determinations, factors that may impact the predictabilityof the state for the given fixture 130 are the location of the fixture130 within the restroom 101, the overall layout of the restroom 101, thetraffic pattern within the restroom 101 and the occurrence of highvolume patron traffic due to a special event or a sudden influx oftraffic, such as an unexpected coincidence of plane arrivals at anairport not in accordance with the regular schedule. For example, forthe restroom 101 layout shown in FIG. 1, it may be determined, eitherthrough prior experience, actual observations or accumulated statisticaldata associated with use of the instant restroom layout and locationthat patrons tend to use the first faucet more frequently due to thatfirst faucet being located nearer to a restroom door or more proximatedispensers of consumables. Thus, such information can also be factoredinto the above-described conventional and well known statisticalalgorithm or heuristics to further enhance the predictability of whenthe soap dispenser 142 associated with that first faucet 136 will bedepleted. Therefore, the restroom convenience center controller 110configuration can also utilize and take into account a Cartesian mapping(method of identifying location of fixtures within a drawn restroomgrid) of the restroom fixture 130 and probabilistic models of therestroom fixture 130 usage. Moreover, with the minimal addition orutilization of the patron counter 158, the direct data can be utilizedby the restroom convenience center controller 110, for example, to alsopredict when the restroom fixture 130, such as the aforementionedfaucets 136 are likely to be occupied and thus determine informationthat can be utilized to direct patrons to, for example, an unseen faucet136 in the restroom 101 facility or another restroom 101 altogether thatmay be currently experiencing less patron traffic/usage. Hence, patrons'behavior can be anticipated as well as modified/directed to maximize theusage of an asset or alternative restroom facilities without a risk of amonitoring system being overly intrusive from the perspective of thepatrons.

In one embodiment, patron call information may be used for qualitycontrol purposes, or may further be used to dynamically alter thresholdsfor supplies and maintenance requests. For example, if it is determinedthat an average response time for supply replenishment requests is 20minutes, the threshold at which at an automated request is generated maybe altered to ensure that future replenishment occurs prior to thesupplies being exhausted, thereby minimizing future manual patronrequests. In the above manner, the controller 110 may better predict howto service various needs associated with the restroom 101.

In one embodiment, restroom traffic is monitored as the primarypredictor and driver of the state table determinations, for example,using the patron counters 158 as the sensors 112 in one or morelocations within the restroom 101. In one example, usage is defineddifferently than traffic in the restroom 101 because not all patrons whoenter the restroom 101 use a water closet 132, or the faucet 136, butinstead many enter for grooming purposes, and thus are not necessarilyconsuming supplies (i.e., using one of the restroom fixtures 130).Consequently, in another aspect of the invention, the restroomcontroller 110 or the global command unit may take the restroom trafficdata and usage data and generate use/traffic historical profiles and usesuch data to generate usage thresholds or use such data for otherpurposes, as may be desired.

In one example, an air quality sensor 156 senses the presence of avolatile/offensive gas or compound. If no flushing of a water closet 132or urinal is sensed for an appropriate time span, the restroomconvenience center controller 110 may infer that a patron has enteredthe restroom 101 and is smoking a cigarette therein or otherwise causinggeneration of unwanted gases. In another example, a representativefixture 130, such as the faucet 136 may have a presence sensor 150associated therewith, while the adjacent fixture 130 does not. Uponreceiving a certain number of counts from the faucet sensor 153, therestroom convenience center controller 110 can apply, as describedherein, a conventional and well known predictive algorithm inconjunction with comparing the count to a predetermined number of countsto determine to a sufficient degree of probability that, for example,paper towels need to be replenished. Further, such data can be analyzedin combination with external data, such as the day being that of aspecial event having a time dependent rising profile, or a sudden noticeof a statistically large event, such as numerous off schedule airflights have arrived together at an airport, to enable service action tobe taken in accordance with predictive determinations for such an event.

Turning now to a specific example of a state table, FIGS. 12A-C shows astate table which can be utilized in accordance with various embodimentsto determine appropriate actions that can or should be taken in responseto the generated, indirect or inferential data described above. FIGS.12A-C illustrates a plurality of states that can be experienced inrelation to thresholds or occurrence of statistically significant eventsthat are surpassed with respect to various sensors 112, or incombination with incoming data notices, in a restroom facility. Itshould be appreciated that FIGS. 12A-C are used for illustrativepurposes and that the invention is not limited to the types or quantityof sensors 112 listed in the state table of FIGS. 12A-C. Further, itshould be appreciated that a state table in accordance with the presentinvention may be sized so as to correspond with the number of sensorinputs or may be compacted by various methods to reducing the totalnumber of potential states.

The state table allows for a determination of the current state of therestroom 101 given a set of indications from sensors 112. For example,if the water closet 132 sensor 112 is activated x number of times for agiven time period and for the particular statistical conditionsoccurring for the restroom 101, the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 determines whether x surpasses a predetermined thresholdset for an allowable number of activations before requiring servicebased on an average number of times a water closet 132 is supposed to beflushed for a particular period of time (and for the known statisticalconditions at that time). If x does surpass the predetermined threshold,it may be assumed that, for example, a patron is repeatedly attemptingto flush the water closet 132 due to the water closet 132 becomingclogged (or is deliberately causing repeated water use for inappropriatepurposes). Hence, the restroom convenience center controller 110 canaccess the sensor state and response matrix and determine that thecurrent state, i.e., state 8 (FIGS. 12A-C), requires that servicingpersonnel respond by inspecting the water closet 132 for potentialequipment failure and/or abuse. It should be noted that a plurality ofcombinations and states beyond those illustrated in FIGS. 12A-C can beimplemented in the sensor state and response matrix. Moreover, asmentioned above regarding the particular conditions, the differentthresholds that might trigger one or more responses can be customizeddepending on the size, location, predicted demographic, e.g., men orwomen, and predicted frequency of use of the restroom 101 facilityand/or restroom fixture 130 therein, among other factors (such asdescribed above).

A fixture 130 that is explicitly included in the make up of the systemstate table can be based upon actual counts, should that capabilityexist, or inferred data calculated from another fixture 130 proximate tothe first with the inferred count adjusted by physical position andoccupancy quotient.

Based on the sensor data and analyses described herein, well knownpredictive algorithms based on conventional statistical methods can beused to estimate the percentage of consumables depleted or the need forpreventative maintenance, etc. An alarm is dispatched to the configuredrecipient destinations when the estimated percentage exceeds aconfigured level. The algorithm is reset when consumables are restocked,such as when an input is provided (manually or automatically via akey-card type system or via RF tags on the consumables). The level ofconsumables within each restroom 101 may be tracked. In addition, therestroom convenience center 100 may track the total consumable stock(such as at a building), such that consumables (or maintenance parts)can be ordered automatically when supply is below a threshold. In oneembodiment, the estimated percentage of maximum inventory is provided tothe restroom convenience center controller 110 via web pageconfiguration. An easy means is provided to indicate 100% consumablerestocking. A means is also provided to indicate less than 100%restocking levels.

The restroom convenience center controller 110 monitors an accumulatedvalue particular to each type of the fixture 130 or device. The valuesare monitored until they meet configured criteria. Accumulated valuesare manually reset (via web page interaction or interaction with aninterface in the restroom 101, such as a janitor login interface 172providing an input to the controller 110 denoting restocking) whenequipment maintenance or equipment replacement is performed. There maybe multiple accumulated values per multiple devices. When the criteriaare met, the alarm type, device identifier, restroom convenience centercontroller 110 identifier, alarm trigger criteria, alarm time, andequipment ID are reported to a configured recipient. Possible values ofmonitored parameters are: water total flow, device duty cycles, deviceactivations, device time in service, number of service calls, facilitytemperature, particular users of the site in view of special events orparticular days in the year and even other factors such as widespreadillness or unusual weather conditions. In one embodiment, a reportpresenting the current value of all devices' accumulated values andthreshold is available via a web page, as discussed further below.

In other words, data can be collected with respect to already-existingsensors 112 that are conventionally utilized to sense the presence of atarget user and for example, turn an associated fixture 130, such as thefaucet 136, on or off. Whereas the conventional sensors 112 and restroomfacility “systems” merely utilize a disjointed series of the sensors 112to automate the fixture 130 operation, various embodiments describedherein can extrapolate the on/off data to predictively ascertain usefulinformation when correlated with at least relative time data and othersensor data correlated therewith. For example, various embodimentsgather a number of times that the first faucet sensor 153 goes on andoff. Such data can be combined/aggregated with time data that isrelative to, e.g., a predetermined average time that a restroom usertakes to wash his/her hands. This combined/aggregated data can then beapplied to one or more predictive algorithms to determine withsufficient specificity, when soap dispensers associated with the faucets136 and the first faucet 136 need to be replenished. That is, “direct”data, e.g., the on/off sensor data, can be utilized to extrapolateand/or predict “indirect” data, e.g., when one or more soap dispensersin the same restroom facility will likely be consumed and thus requirereplenishing.

For example, one embodiment may set the usage value for the toilet paperin the water closet 132 as N and N=0 to start. The restroom conveniencecenter system 100 assigns an impact on N for the sensor 112, wherecertain sensors 112 only slightly increase N and others provide a largerincrease. An alternative embodiment involves determining the likelihoodof a usage based upon all of the sensors 112 in the table, i.e. thewater closet 132 activation plus an air quality indication is moreindicative of a toilet paper usage than faucet and air quality.

One embodiment of the invention would be to sensorize a referencerestroom 101 in a sufficient manner to predict the state of another baserestroom 101. Additional restrooms 101 at the same general location maythen only include a minimal set of the sensors 112 or the sensor 112such as providing only patron counters 158 (positioned at a door) at theremaining restrooms 101. The door patron counter 158 would then act as a“bias” that is used to adjust where that particular restroom's needs areagainst the more fully sensorized reference restroom 101.

For the purposes of illustration the state table 1200 is shown by aseries of 0's and 1's to indicate whether a particular device is aboveor below threshold or expected value. In one embodiment, the 0's and 1'srepresent continuous analog values, discrete counts, and probabilitydensity functions. Thus, in certain embodiments, thresholds for thestate table 1200 could be populated based purely on empirical dataobtained from the actual venue or similar installation.

F. Restroom Convenience Center System Operation—Correlation Table

It should be further appreciated that the accuracy and precision of thedescribed predictive aspects of the invention may be improved in somecases through the use of additional sensors 112. Over time in a certaincontext it may be possible to accurately predict the need for servicebased only on number of visitors to the restroom 101. However, each timea new sensor 112 is added to the system 100, a more accurate predictionof the current state can be made. However, highly useful correlationinformation for predictive calculations can be obtained from acorrelation table 1100 to map the relative correlation between thevarious sensors 112 and states of the restroom 101 (or the fixture130/consumables and other devices therein). FIG. 11 illustrates onenon-limiting example of a correlation table 1100. In the illustratedembodiment, sensor input 1110 includes faucet activations, urinalactivations, water closet activations, patron visits, air quality, andpatron call status. For each of these sensor inputs, the correlation forvarious consumable usage 1120 is provided as high, medium, low, or nocorrelation 1130. It is intuitive that there would be a strongcorrelation between water closet activations and toilet paper usage,just as there would be a strong correlation between faucet activationsand soap usage. However, a correlation also exists between water closetflushometer activations and soap usage although not as strong as thatbetween faucet activations and soap usage. Thus, the flexibility of thepresent invention allows for different combinations of the sensors 112and accumulated historical data and comparison with current device dataallow for different predictive approaches to predicting the currentstate of the restroom 101 and predict alarm states in the future.

Once the sensor data has been used to determine, such as via the statetable, the current (or predicted) state of the restroom 101, therestroom convenience center system 100 can also determine whethercertain thresholds have been exceeded through the use of correlations.One way to do this is to establish a correlation factor for the watercloset valve actuations to toilet paper usage. The correlation table(e.g., FIG. 11) indicates there is a high degree of correlation betweenwater closet valve actuations and toilet paper usage. For a giveninstallation, it may be known (or assumed) that in the case of malepatrons, a water closet 132 is sometimes used in place of the urinal134, so it would be desirable that the system 100 remove this presumedaction from counting towards the value of toilet paper depletionespecially in a male restroom. This is in effect, a statistical negativeweight which can be included to predict more precisely when consumablesare to be replaced, as opposed to merely assuming one flush event equalsuse of toilet paper. That is, if a user is using a water closet 132 forliquid waste and therefore not using toilet paper, the correlationbetween the water closet 132 actuation and the use of toilet paper mustbe adjusted. In one embodiment, conventional stochastic models may beused to generate the state table and correlations. Another approach tofurther quantify population of the state table is to make use of thestatistics method known as the “Delphi” technique. The Delphi techniquewould essentially treat each of the sensor inputs with it's own set ofthresholds as an “expert”. The initial thresholds would be setqualitatively based on experience such as, but not limited to, “look atthe restroom state after 85 visits”, “a roll of toilet paper gets usedup about every 35 water closet 132 activations, after about 125 handwashes the towels should be checked”, etc. Each sensor 112 could bepolled to send data, or may push data, to the application when itreaches, or is approaching, warning or alarm state and all of the sensorinput's “expertise” could be summarized to determine whether the sensors112 all think the toilet paper should be replaced, or the towels needreplenishment, or other corrective action is needed. Thus, eachdifferent sensor 112 (or information regarding the restroom) may betreated as providing an independent “opinion” as to the state of therestroom 101. For example, it may be know that there is a highcorrelation between water closet activations and toilet paper usage.Likewise, it may be also known that there is a correlation between watercloset activations and hand towel usage, albeit not as strong as forwater closet activations to toilet paper. Using the Delphi technique themean of the sensor inputs can be determined and the range of responsesanalyzed to make a decision.

G. Restroom Convenience Center System Operation—Learning

The restroom convenience center system 100 can utilize various“learning” or “smart computing” techniques to adapt to a giveninstallation or set of conditions. To correlate the data with otherinformation, the system 100 again relies upon the state table forcing adiscrete number of conditions that can be detected and further enablingthe option for the system 100 to react in a pre-planned manner or onethat adapts and learns over time. The system 100 also can includeembedded or stored historical use data for the restroom 100 and even thefixtures 130 and the dispenser 142 which can be called on to assist inthe learning process. Further, “manual” feedback, or rather actualobservations, is one way for learning to occur. It should be appreciatedthat maintenance and janitorial personnel can physically inspect therestroom 101 and enter into the restroom convenience center system 100,such as through the LUI 180, any items that were found to be out ofcompliance with established policy. The patron call device 173 isanother input to the restroom convenience center system 100 which cancause learning to occur in the system 100. The patron call device's 173initiation of learning in the restroom convenience center system 100would be reduced to practice by employing logic and statisticaltechniques to result in information. For example, it may be determinedthat based on the last x occurrences of this specific condition, thereis an y % chance that a patron call will be initiated to report anunacceptable housekeeping condition. If y is above a certainpredetermined threshold, the restroom convenience center system 100 willinitiate an alarm, such as a text message to the cleaning personnellocated in closest proximity to the restroom, predicting the need forservice next. It should further be appreciated that, in certainembodiments, it will be equally important for the servicing personnel toreport a “no service required” event as well for learning to occur inthis scenario, as a source of feedback to the system 100. One ofordinary skill in the art will appreciate there are numerous otherconventional, well known ways in which the system 100 can learn andwhich are used herein. Pattern matching is an example of anothertechnique that can be used as a stimulus to induce learning for restroomconvenience center system 100 applications. The underlying algorithmused by the restroom convenience center system 100 in a given embodimentmight initially assume a Gaussian distribution for the patron's use of aparticular fixture 130 which is translated to a value in the state tablerepresenting a warning, alarm, trend variable, or other quantity ofinterest. A background algorithm will then begin to check actualexperience against the Gaussian model and make appropriate adjustmentbased on the error.

In one embodiment, the predictive aspects are improved by having thesystem 100 periodically set to a known “acceptable” state. As mentionedpreviously, the patron call device 173 may be used to “true up” thesystem 100 by allowing for an unacceptable condition to be reported thatcan be a catalyst for the system 100 to recalibrate based on learningfrom the specific conditions that led to the unanticipated shortage ofconsumables for instance.

Further, the restroom convenience center system 100 may utilize anadjustment upon the occurrence of a certain event, such as if anexcessive number of patron calls due to unacceptable conditions orhousekeeping inspections indicate the need for services is occurringprior to the system actually providing a warning or alarm, a routine canbe automatically or manually initiated that will provide for a moreaggressive algorithm. A qualified patron call request to report anunacceptable maintenance or housekeeping condition will trigger arecalibration of the algorithm to become more aggressive in itsprediction of facility needs. A restroom 101 with little to no usage ofthe patron call capability is one that is probably well maintained.These visits are time-stamped by the restroom convenience center system100 as part of the electronic log. Therefore, one example of therestroom convenience center system 100 application program might walkdown the state table looking for any value to go over threshold whichwould initiate a notification. This additional “aggressiveness” might beobtained by adjusting some or all thresholds downward by an amount, suchas, for example, 10%. Another method might provide increased weightingto a sensor input or combination of inputs that conventional dataanalytics algorithms show to be good predictors of actual activity overthe default state table settings. Another embodiment might implementsimple logic that provides notice if the patron counter 1580R the watercloset 132/urinal activations AND the faucets go over threshold, thenthe thresholds are adjusted as described above. Thus, for particularinstallations the predictive accuracy may increase as a larger universeof observed data is gathered.

H. User Interface

The use of graphical user interfaces as a part of or in combination withthe restroom convenience center system 100 has been previouslydescribed. In certain embodiments, user interfaces provide specificinformation and functionality. FIGS. 13A-13G, FIGS. 14A-H, and 15A-H arerepresentative screen shots of exemplary embedded web pages that canshow valve failure alarms for various restroom fixture 130, a restroomoverview, and various performance-related data. Generally, the userinterfaces 1300-1306, 1400-1407, and 1500-1507 can indicate whether ornot water-related fixture 130 are not operating and whether or not thosefixtures 130 have been turned off, as well as general maintenancealarms.

More particularly, FIG. 13A shows a screen shot 1300 of a overview pageindicating the status of the restroom convenience center system 100,including a toolbar or menu bar 1310 allowing for access to additionalpages. In the example of FIG. 13A, the options include “overview”“performance: all fixture 130” 1310A, “performance: total facility”1310B, “configuration system” 1310C, and “alarms” 1310D. The overviewscreen 1300 further includes individual displays providing certaininformation, in one embodiment “snapshots” summarizing informationavailable from more detailed pages. For example, an events log 1312, adiagrammatic representation of a selected restroom 1313, an indicationof a selected fixture 130 performance 1314, and the performance of thewhole facility, as well as performance charts regarding traffic 1316,air quality 1317, and temperature 1318. In one embodiment, the overviewpage provides for interactive and dynamic display of information, suchas allowing a user to select an individual fixture 130 from the diagram1313 resulting in the display of information related to that fixture 130in the areas 1314-1318 fixture 130.

FIG. 13B illustrates a performance screen 1301 for the entire facilityand FIG. 13C illustrates a performance screen 1302 for all fixture 130.The performance screens 1301 and 1302 can be used to track informationsuch as water savings or other “green” metrics. FIGS. 13D-F illustrateinformation regarding specific sensor data, patron traffic, temperature,and air quality, respectively. FIG. 13F illustrates an alarm screen1306, which provides a user with an overview of particular alarms thathave occurred in the restroom convenience center system 100. Inaddition, it should be appreciated that information may be madeavailable in various forms and corresponding to various time periods.Data may be displayed in various line graphs, although other methods ofrepresenting data can be employed to present such data to an end user,either visually, textually, or both. It should be noted that theembedded web pages illustrated in FIGS. 13 a-13 d also include adaptivemenus and navigation controls to allow an end-user to navigate to andfrom such embedded web pages.

FIGS. 14A-J illustrates an alternative embodiment of user interfacescreens 1400-1407. The screens 1400-1407 include a tool bar or menu1410. The menu 1410 includes, in the embodiment illustrated, links forselecting “all restrooms” 1410A, “main floor” 1410B, “first floorbalcony” 1410C (corresponding to various subgroups within the facility),“reporting” 1410D, and “system configuration” 1410E. Screen 1400, ofFIG. 14A, includes an overview of the information available to a user.One portion of the screen 1400 provides a tab for an overview 1411,fixture 130 1412, and alarms 1413. A second portion 1414 includesinformation relating to fixture 130 and their performance for theselected fixture 130 or group from the first portion. Additionalinformation is provided via patron traffic 1415, occupancy 1416, and airquality 1417 displays. FIGS. 14B-D illustrate various embodiments ofthese screens 1401-1403. FIGS. 14E-F illustrate system configurationscreens 1404 and 1405 respectively indicating devices screen andfacility screens. The system configuration screens may be used to alterthe restroom convenience center system 100 functionality and/or thefunctionality of the fixture 130. FIGS. 14G-H depict reporting screens1406-1407 for reports 1420 and logs 1421 respectively

FIGS. 15A-J illustrate alternative embodiments for the screens 1400-1407for a different exemplary facility, depicted in user interface screens1500-1507.

In one embodiment, once the ZigBee nodes for those devices have beenadded to the restroom convenience center controller 110 system, thesystem operator may then add individual devices to the restroomconvenience center controller 110 system configuration using theembedded web pages in the restroom convenience center controller 110.The operator can enter identifying information and other details foreach device added to the system 100, including the physical location andidentifying marks or serial numbers for the unit.

Additionally, the embedded web pages can be used to modify the restroomconvenience center controller 110 configuration parameters describedabove. That is, an end user can provide system and network parameters,facilities parameters and/or instructions, consumables, services, andnotifications parameters, heuristics information, as well as calendardata related to the above parameters, e.g., for scheduling and timingreplenishment actions and also even allow entry of information relatedto unusual or non-recurring events which will impact service or alarmconditions. Furthermore, the embedded web pages can be utilized topresent various event reports, e.g., system events, facility events, andnetwork events, such as those already described above. Various otherpieces of information can be presented as well, including but notlimited to, histograms, forecasting and trending data, diagnosticinformation, export/restore information, as well as hypertext transferprotocol (HTTP) information.

In one aspect of the present invention, restroom usage is compared to apredetermined threshold (either simple thresholds or complex statesresulting from correlation of various sensed events or otherstatistically significant events), and if exceeded, the restroomcontroller generates an alarm notification with a time/date stamp andtransmits such alarm to a user via one or more devices and/or sends thealarm to the global command unit. The time/date stamp can be useful inevaluating response times to such alarms which then can be further usedto dynamically adjust various thresholds to ensure that alarms are setat appropriate times so as to avoid one or more of the supplies beingcompletely exhausted.

The restroom convenience center controller 110, as described above, canbe configured to deliver alerts and alarms regarding various events andconditions to responsible personnel via email. If notifications are tobe delivered to a cellular handset, the text-messaging email address ofthat handset should be supplied as an address (e.g.12165551234@myvzw.net). Alerts may include any of the conditionsdescribed above, and resulting alarms and/or notifications can be taggedas urgent or requiring immediate attention. Additionally, differentemail addresses may be assigned to different categories of alert andalarm conditions, depending upon who the responsible parties are forresolving various conditions. Alert and alarm conditions may eitherreset themselves if the condition is reversed, or be cleared by a systemoperator using the embedded web pages in the restroom convenience centercontroller 110.

In addition, or alternatively, based on the monitored fixture 130 usageand the generated fixture 130 usage profile, the method may furtherquery whether the monitored usage activity of one or more of the fixture130 deviates from the predetermined or dynamically generated usageprofile. If so, an alarm notification is generated and time-stamped, andthen transmitted to a user via one or more devices and/or sends thealarm to the global command unit.

Data may also be exported on-demand by accessing the embedded web pagesand selecting an immediate export. This may be done for maintenance ordiagnostic purposes.

As discussed above, the restroom convenience center system 100 andmethod of the present invention advantageously provides for real timemonitoring of one or more of the fixtures 130 associated with therestroom 101, and such system and method is expandable to the monitoringand control of multiple restrooms in a large venue, for example. Byproviding such real time monitoring, alarm notifications associated withsuch functions can be communicated in a timely manner, therebyfacilitating improved service need or preventive maintenance response.

Various embodiments allow the restroom convenience center controller 110to monitor facilities usage generate an alert condition when itdetermines that a piece of equipment may need periodic maintenance dueto accumulated usage and wear, such as those fixture 130 and aspectsdescribed above. Once maintenance has been performed on the concernedcomponents, a system operator would acknowledge the maintenance activityto the restroom convenience center controller 110 through embedded webpages which allow interaction at the restroom convenience centercontroller 110 server of NOC 510-level. It should be noted thatinteraction with the restroom convenience center controller 110 can alsobe implemented remotely. For example, each restroom convenience centercontroller 110 consists of a system of a plurality of buildings that canbe accessed, configured, modified, etc. via the embedded web pages.

In one embodiment, the user interfaces may be used to depict a restroom“figure of merit”. The figure of merit gives a stakeholder informationregarding a desired feature of the restroom 101 important for thatstakeholder or facility. It also can provide a metric for comparingdifferent restrooms. For instance, the figure of merit metric would beparticularly useful to a fast food chain or service station businesswhich is trying to distinguish its brand from competitors. The figure ofmerit could be used to print out lists of “outstanding performers”,those that are “in compliance”, and those that require remediation. Inone embodiment, a figure of merit would be a composite score based on anumber of factors, including a low number of legitimate patron callrequests, availability of consumables, fixture 130 and deviceavailability (nothing broken and off-line), VOC levels, crowding, andtime of overcrowding of the restroom 101.

I. Example Usage Scenarios

Additionally, by estimating restroom traffic, the restroom conveniencecenter controller 110 can determine how long on average it should taketo deplete the consumables (soap, towels, water closet 132 paper, etc)in the dispenser 142 and send an alert via email to the partyresponsible for stocking the restroom 101 and ordering supplies.Moreover, the restroom convenience center controller 110 can send anemail directly to the supply depot requesting a shipment of supplies,thus automating the resupply process. It should be noted that therestroom convenience center system 100, including one or more restroomconvenience center controller 110 and one more sensors 112 for eachrestroom facility, can be scaled appropriately depending upon theenvironment. In other words, a first restroom facility can be outfittedsimply with a single restroom convenience center controller 110 that itis able to harness the collective randomness of previously unused and/ordiscarded data gleaned from existing presence sensors 150 to effectivelypredict indirect water usage, consumable replenishment, and appropriateservice responses, as well as redirect patron traffic to alternativeones of the restroom fixtures 130 and/or other restroom facilities.

In one exemplary preferred embodiment, the restroom convenience centersystem 100 interfaces with a user such that selected critical sensorinformation can be used to monitor general availability of the fixture130 in the restrooms 101, monitor the presence of a user in certaingeneral locations of the restroom 101 and collect critical timinginformation needed to evaluate service requirements and fixture 130availability in the restroom 101.

During a low service level state, illustrated in FIG. 16A, the restroom1600 can be characterized by no visible queues at fixture 130 (such aswater closets 132 or faucets 136) such that the restroom 101 has excesscapacity. As the user enters the restroom 1600 via a door 1610 to afirst area 1611, the user activates a patron counter 158, whichgenerates a time stamp data for entry into the restroom 1600. This timestamp date is stored by a memory component; either of the patron counter158 or the restroom convenience center controller 110. The user thenmoves to any location within the restroom 1600, or can even decide toimmediately leave. If the user moves to the water closet 132 or theurinal 134, the presence sensor 150 can detect general location and evenposition at the given water closet 132 or the urinal 134. Once the userengages the selected fixture 130, additional timing data is collectedand stored by the memory component and used for system processing,analysis and action items, such as consumables replacement or repair ofan apparently nonfunctional fixture 130. Then, once the user engages aspecific fixture 130 1630 at a second location 1612 out of the fixture130, such as the water closet 132, the urinal 134, the faucet 136 and ahand drying component (not shown), the presence sensor 150 (associatedwith the water closet 132, urinal 134, and faucet 136) moves into analarmed state and an accumulated time is also stored for use by therestroom convenience center controller 110. Once the user disengages theselected fixture 130, the associated presence sensor 150 moves from thearmed state, then to an activation state and then back to a standby modestate upon the user leaving the detection zone, thus awaiting a new userto repeat the timing cycle.

The user may then choose to go to a third location 1613 in the restroom101 to engage another of the fixtures 1632, 1634, such as a changing orwork station or the faucet 136. The user then initiates washing of theirhands by activating faucet water flow and/or the soap dispenser 142. Thefaucet 136 has an associated sensor 153 (use FIG. 1) that activates atiming cycle much as was done for the water closet 132 or the urinal 134to accumulate useful timing information (time elapsed as well as actualstart and end time) for use by the processing system. For automaticfaucets, as previously discussed, the logic of operation has the faucet136 in a “stand by mode” or an “on mode”, and thus, the time stamp willbe for an “on mode” then to an “off mode” once user leaves the faucet.The sink can further include other disposables, such as soap, handsanitizer and paper towels from dispenser 20. Once any user leaves therestroom 1600, via area 1614 the restroom convenience center controller110 time stamps departure time for use by the processing system. Therestroom 1600 can further include other features, such as the patroncall device 173 which can be tracked by the restroom convenience centercontroller 110.

In another exemplary mode of operation when the restroom 101,illustrated in FIG. 16B, is operating during peak loading by users, moreusers are present then the number of the fixture 130. In such asituation, the user enters through the door 1610 and activates thepatron counter 158 that generates associated time stamp data for use bythe restroom convenience center controller 110. In the peak loadingmode, queues develop for each of the fixtures 130 such that rapidity oftime turnaround is logged for each of the fixture 130 and that data isprocessed for use by the restroom convenience center controller 110.This system 100 can then analyze the data and evaluate such informationas ratio of users to fixture 130 being available with knowledge ofdeparting versus entry of users (such discernment of entry versusdeparture can also be determined by appropriate joint use of a patroncounter 158 and the presence sensor 150). In addition, during periods offrequent use of the restroom 1600, the air quality sensor 156 [not shownin FIGS. 16A-C] could have an associated peak in detection of gases andeven particular profile characteristics of the status of use of thefixture 130 and time of use of each of the water closets 132. Inaddition, the timing information associated with the wash station(faucet) 136 can also be correlated to frequency, as well as, number andtime of use of the faucets 136, thereby enabling gathering of datauseful for restroom sensoring of the consumables being expended andconsequent scheduling of consumables replacement or other services.

FIG. 16C illustrates the restroom 1600 of FIGS. 16A-B in a no volumetraffic pattern, such as during period when a building is unoccupied.

In another exemplary aspect of the invention, the restroom conveniencecenter system 100 can use the restroom data obtained as describedherein, to provide potential users with helpful information. Forexample, informational restroom signage 1640 (FIG. 16A) could beprovided at the entry to the restroom 1600 and even at each of thefixture 130 within the restroom 1600. Thus, when the restroom 1600 hasavailable the fixture 130, such information can be displayed. When therestroom 1600 is under heavy use, the signage 1640 can indicate which ofthe fixtures 130 are available with associated wait times and can alsoindicate alternate available restrooms with fixture 130 ready for use inless crowded alternate restrooms. Further detailed information such asqueue times can be provided via the external or even internal signagefor specific fixtures 130. With knowledge of rate of entrance and exitby user, the restroom convenience center controller 110 can also applyvarious predictive models to project fixture 130 wait time andavailability probabilities.

With reference to FIGS. 21, 22A-D, and 23A-D illustrate observed datafrom a sample restroom 101 with a patron counter 158 and flushometerfixture 130 counting flushes being provided. It will be appreciated byone of ordinary skill in the art that FIGS. 21, 22A-B, and 23A-D providean indication of various thresholds, correlations, and weighting thatcould be used in accordance with the principles of the presentinvention. FIG. 21 is a table depicting raw data log of restroomentrances and fixture flushing over 47 days for two restrooms 101, onemale and one female in a high traffic environment. It can be observedthat there is very good one to one correlation between male visits andfixture flushing with only a 3½% difference in the number of usersentering the restroom 101 and the number of fixture activations. Bycontrast, the female restroom has a 40% difference in the count of usersentering the restroom and fixture activations. This shows consistentmultiple flushing on the part of the female users when compared to themale users.

FIG. 22A illustrates average traffic during the day (over the course ofa month) in 15 minute increments for the women's restroom 101, and FIG.22B illustrates the same for a different month. FIG. 22C illustrates thedaily totals for the same restroom 101 and month of FIG. 22A. FIG. 22Cillustrates the daily totals for the same restroom 101 and month of FIG.22B. FIGS. 23A-D illustrate the same respective information as FIGS.22A-D except for the men's restroom 101. Patterns of use can beapproximated by the system as a function of acquired patterns of dataand that data can be leveled for predictive analysis.

J. Traffic Intensity Index

Traffic intensity is the measure of the congestion of the restroom 101.It is used to anticipate pending queues within a system. Specifically itcompares the rate of arrivals to the rate of departures.

With a traffic intensity index nearer to zero, there is very littlequeue time in the system. With a traffic intensity closer to one, theoccurrence of queuing within the restroom 101 increases. In any givencommercial restroom, the traffic counter of arrivals and departures fora unit of time is an early warning indicator that the restroom 101 isreaching a “saturation” and queuing models begin to be employed. Thequeuing models are then used to balance traffic to other proximaterestrooms 101 by giving patrons information on making decisions basedupon average anticipated queue times for the restroom 101 and to notifyservice personnel (or the RCC system) of any imminent service events oralarm states. People entering and leaving the commercial restroom 101generate the following index as characterized by FIG. 20.

FIG. 20 illustrates a flow chart depicting logic for carrying out oneembodiment of the above described feature. In FIG. 20:

N_(i)=number of people counted entering the restroom

{hacek over (N)}_(it)=Average number of people entering restroom pertime t

N_(e)=number of people counted leaving the restroom

{hacek over (N)}_(et)=Average number of people leaving restroom per timet

t_(c)=System time stamp traffic count.

With continued reference to FIG. 20, the queuing logic 2000 tracks bothpeople entering and people leaving. At step 2001, a patron enters therestroom 101 passing through the detection zone of the patron counter158. At step 2002, an entrance signal is received by the restroomconvenience center 100. At step 2003, N_(i) is increased by one toaccount for the entry of the person in step 2000. At step 2004, a timecorresponding to the traffic count is obtained. At step 2005, {hacekover (N)}_(it) is calculated to determine the average number of peopleentering per time period. Essentially in parallel, the system 100 alsotracks the number of patrons exiting. At step 2006, a patron exits therestroom 101 passing though the detection zone of the patron counter158. At step 2007, an exit signal is received by the restroomconvenience center 100. At step 2008, N_(e) is increased by one toaccount for the exit of the person in step 2006. At step 2009, a timecorresponding to the traffic count is obtained. At step 2010, {hacekover (N)}_(et) is calculated to determine the average number of peopleexiting per time period. At step 2011, the traffic intensity index iscalculated by dividing {hacek over (N)}_(it) by {hacek over (N)}_(et).If the value is greater than or equal to 1, then a queuing estimate isprovided at step 2012; if the intensity index is less than 1 the system100 returns to steps 2001 and 2006.

With similar generated data for patrons being counted during exiting,traffic intensity ratios can be determined. This calculated ratio for arestroom 101 can indicate if queuing might be present within therestroom 101 and patrons may experience a wait once entering therestroom 101. In one embodiment, when the traffic intensity ratio goesbeyond a value of 1, the system 100 begins analyzing the individualfixture data to determine expected queue times based upon the servicelevel of the individual fixtures 130. It should be appreciated thatvarious methods and models can be used to predict the expected queuetime, but one non-liming example follows classic parallel server modelsin queuing theory assuming a Poisson distribution of patron arrivals atthe fixtures.

The average wait time T might be defined;

$T = \frac{1}{\mu - \lambda}$

μ=average service rateλ=average arrival rate.

Where a statistically significant service rate is generated by thesystem with extracted data. The average arrival rate, one can appreciateis a trivial value the system has already generated per unit of time.

As long as the traffic intensity ratio for the restroom 101 remains at 1or greater, each set of information from the sensor 112 in the restroom101 corresponding to an individual fixture 130 is analyzed in real timein order to determine how much time remains before the next fixture 130becomes available for patrons in the queue. This information getscorrelated to arrive at a probability for broadcasting beyond therestroom 101 perhaps to digital message boards either above the occupiedfixtures 130 or in the hallway before entering the restroom 101.Unoccupied fixtures within a restroom experiencing queues, havingdigital messages above each fixture could broadcast a message of theavailability. Moreover, if during high queue times a particular fixturefails to experience use by a patron in the queue, an alert to thisanomaly is trivial for the system to generate and send.

At any time during non peak hours the traffic intensity ratio for therestroom 101 is less than 1 the individual fixture data is continuallystored for analysis. This data is used for various maintenancesubroutines as well as inferential data on other consumables inaccordance with the principles of the present invention.

In this embodiment, an important aspect is always knowing what theservice rates are for the individual fixtures 130 for a given restroomtraffic profile, which, as has been discussed previously, may vary frominstallation to installation and even type of population using thefacility at any given time. With gathered data for various trafficpatterns, any given fixture 130 can have an average service timeestimated based upon historical stored data against that fixture 130.Having an estimated average service time allows the system 100 toestimate service time when the restroom 101 begins experiencing queuetimes. Table 2 illustrates the activity of the presence sensor 150associated with the fixture 130 and the corresponding activity of therestroom convenience center controller 110.

TABLE 2 USER IN RESTROOM FIXTURE SENSOR SYSTEM User enters fixturesensor Sensor detects object and range starts internal clock todetermine valid target. User is detected by fixture Sensor determines avalid Signal sent to RCC to sensor target, sensor goes into generate atime stamp armed mode, generates a time stamp. User exits fixture sensorSensor activates fixture, Signal sent to RCC to range goes into stand bymode generate a time stamp. and generates a time stamp. Fixture entersstandby mode Sensor returns to searching Signal sent to RCC for a validtarget. automatic fixture ready for another user.

FIG. 24 illustrates this in flowchart form, wherein:

f_(xy)=Fixture numbered ‘x’ in restroom ‘y’

ta_(fxy)=time stamp fixture x when sensor is armed in restroom ‘y’

t_(ffxy)=time stamp of fixture x when sensor activates plumbing fixturein restroom ‘y’

t_(ffxy)−ta_(fxy)=length of service for fixture x=Sx (@time t_(f).)

X=Σf_(xy) x=1 to X

The logic for predicting queue time 2400 begins, at step 2401, with thepatron trigger detection associated with a particular fixture “x” in therestroom 101, such as by presence sensor 150. The presence sensor 150goes into armed mode at step 2402. At step 2403, the sensor sends asignal to the restroom convenience center controller 110 which is timestamped. The value of ta_(fxy) is stored at step 2404. At step 2405, thepatron exits the fixture 130, resulting in the sensor 150 exiting thearmed state. The corresponding signal is time stamped and then stored ast_(ffxy) at step 2406. The restroom convenience center controller 110then calculates, at step 2407, the fixture service time byt_(ffxy)−ta_(fxy). At step 2408, the calculated value is stored asS_(x)t_(f). At step 2409, the presence sensor 150 returns to standbymode and the system 100 returns to step 2401. One can additionallyappreciate that when an expected activation of water is anticipated bythe above, a simple edit check can be trivial for the system 100 toaccomplish by perhaps water flow detection.

Although the invention has been shown and described with respect to acertain aspect or various aspects, it is obvious that equivalentalterations and modifications will occur to others skilled in the artupon the reading and understanding of this specification and the annexeddrawings. In particular regard to the various functions performed by theabove described components (assemblies, devices, circuits, etc.), theterms (including a reference to a “means”) used to describe suchcomponents are intended to correspond, unless otherwise indicated, toany component which performs the specified function of the describedcomponent (i.e., that is functionally equivalent), even though notstructurally equivalent to the disclosed structure which performs thefunction in the herein illustrated exemplary embodiments of theinvention. In addition, while a particular feature of the invention mayhave been disclosed with respect to only one of several aspects of theinvention, such feature may be combined with one or more other featuresof the other aspects as may be desired and advantageous for any given orparticular application. Furthermore, to the extent that the term“includes” is used in either the detailed description or the claims,such term is intended to be inclusive in a manner similar to the term“comprising.”

Various embodiments are described in the general context of methodsteps, which may be implemented in one embodiment by a program productincluding computer-executable instructions, such as program code,executed by computers in networked environments. Generally, programmodules include routines, programs, objects, components, datastructures, etc. that perform particular tasks or implement particularabstract data types. Computer-executable instructions, associated datastructures, and program modules represent examples of program code forexecuting steps of the methods disclosed herein. The particular sequenceof such executable instructions or associated data structures representsexamples of corresponding acts for implementing the functions describedin such steps.

Software and web implementations of the present invention could beaccomplished with standard programming techniques with rule based logicand other logic to accomplish the various database searching steps,correlation steps, comparison steps and decision steps. It should alsobe noted that the words “component” and “module,” as used herein and inthe claims, is intended to encompass implementations using one or morelines of software code, and/or hardware implementations, and/orequipment for receiving manual inputs.

1. A restroom control system for controlling a restroom and its restroomfacilities, comprising: one or more sensors configured to monitor statesassociated with a first set of features of the restroom; a controlleroperably coupled to the one or more sensors, and configured to receivefirst states data therefrom associated with the first set of features todetermine second states data associated with a second set of featuresand communicate the status condition associated with the first set offeatures, thereby causing a useful actions to be scheduled for therestroom.
 2. The restroom control system of claim 1, wherein thecontroller is further configured to collect and save the received firststates data over a period of time and generate historical informationassociated with the restroom; thereby enabling future improvements ofservices for the restroom.
 3. The restroom control system of claim 1,wherein the one or more sensors comprise sensor units of an automaticflush valve and an automatic faucet.
 4. The restroom control system ofclaim 1, further comprising a user interface for communicating thestatus condition.
 5. The restroom control system of claim 1, furthercomprising a patron call device configured to be manually activated upona need for service associated with the restroom, wherein the actuationof the patron call device provides a signal to the controller.
 6. Amethod for automatically generating work orders for a restroom; sensingthe state of at least one restroom fixture; communicating the at leastone sensed state to a controller; calculating the use of at least onetype of consumable within the restroom facility based upon apredetermined average usage for each of the at least one sensed states;aggregating the calculated usage for each type of consumable within therestroom facility to determine a total amount used for each type ofconsumable; determining when the total amount used for each type ofconsumable surpasses a predetermined threshold; evaluating at least oneof additional stored data and sudden occurrence data for determiningwhether the predetermined threshold should be adjusted based on theadditional stored data and the sudden occurrence data; issuing a workorder for replenishment of each type of consumable for which therespective threshold has been surpassed.
 7. The method of claim 6,further comprising generating a time/date stamp for each sensed state.8. The method of claim 7, further comprising generating historical usedata of the restroom based on the sensed data and time/date stamp andstoring the historical use data.
 9. The method of claim 8, furthercomprising altering the predetermined threshold based on the historicaluse data.
 10. The method of claim 6, further comprising providing amanual input to alter the predetermined threshold based on thehistorical use data
 11. A method, comprising: receiving first data froma plurality of sensors, at least one associated with a flushometer;inferring information based on the received first data, the inferredinformation being indicative of at least one state of the restroomfacility requiring at least one corrective measure; and transmitting atleast one notification including at least one instruction forimplementing the at least one corrective measure.
 12. The method ofclaim 11, wherein a central restroom controller receives the first dataover at least one of wired and wireless network.
 13. The method of claim11, wherein the inferring of the information further comprises applyinga predictive algorithm to the received first data.
 14. The method ofclaim 11, wherein the received direct/first data includes at least oneof water closet flow, urinal water flow, a temperature of the restroomfacility, air quality of the restroom facility, and user traffic throughthe restroom facility.
 15. The method of claim 11, wherein inferredinformation includes at least one of a condition of a water closet, acondition of a urinal, a supply level of consumables in the restroomfacility, and overall cleanliness of the restroom facility.
 16. Themethod of claim 11, wherein the transmitting of the at least onenotification comprises transmitting an email, transmitting a page alert,transmitting an alarm notification, transmitting an SMS text, initiatinga voice communication.
 17. A computer implemented system for managingrestroom facilities, comprising: a central processing unit (CPU); and astorage device coupled to the CPU and having information stored thereinfor configuring the CPU to: first data from a plurality of sensorsassociated with at least one of an appliance aspect and a utilizationaspect of a restroom facility; second data determined by executingcomputer software based on the received first data, the second databeing indicative of at least action state of the restroom facilityrequiring at least one corrective measure for the restroom facilities;and an alarm system activated by a notification of achieving the atleast one action states including at least one instruction forimplementing the at least one corrective measure for servicing therestroom facilities.
 18. The system of claim 17, wherein a centralrestroom controller receives the first data over at least one of wiredand wireless network.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein theextrapolating of the second data further comprises applying a predictivealgorithm to the received first data.
 20. The system of claim 17,wherein the received first data includes at least one of water closetflow, urinal water flow, a temperature of the restroom facility, airquality of the restroom facility, and user traffic through the restroomfacility.
 21. The system of claim 17, wherein extrapolated second dataincludes at least one of a condition of a water closet, a condition of aurinal, a supply level of consumables in the restroom facility, andoverall cleanliness of the restroom facility.
 22. The system of claim17, the storage device further comprises information stored therein forconfiguring the CPU to transmit an email, transmitting a page alert,transmitting an alarm notification, transmitting an SMS text, initiatinga voice communication.
 23. A method for forecasting restroom usage queuetimes for selected fixtures of the restroom, comprising: operablyassociating at least one fixture sensor with at least one fixture in therestroom, such that at least one attribution of the fixture is monitoredby the fixture sensor; operably associating each of the at least onefixture sensors with a restroom controller; monitoring entrance and exitevents for the restroom using a presence sensor, the presences sensorassociated with the restroom controller; generating a time/date stampfor data generated by the at least one fixture sensor and the presencesensor; determining a user saturation of the restroom; calculating anestimated queue time associated with the user saturation of therestroom; and communicating the calculated queue time to potentialusers; thereby enabling efficient use of the restroom.
 24. The method ofclaim 23, wherein the calculated queue time is communicated to users viaa graphical user display located remote from the restroom.
 25. Themethod of claim 24, wherein the estimated queue time is furthercommunicated to a manager of the restroom facility.
 26. A system for arestroom comprising: at least one server configured to monitor datastates associated with a first of features of the restroom; a controllercoupled to the at least one sensor and configured to receive first statedata associated with the first set of features and, the controllerfurther having a coupled memory storage with embedded alarm datacharacteristic of selected combinations of different ones of the firststates data and the controller operative to generate particular actioncommands upon receiving a selected one of the combinations, therebycausing at least one of servicing of the restroom, activation ofinformational direction to user of the restroom and providing usefulrestroom status information to the user.